retrogression
by thatdamnuchiha
Summary: Obito sent her back. It was his final sacrifice, his final stand. He sent her back to change everything, but like most things Team Seven did, things went wrong. Drastically so. She's stuck in a complete new dimension with no way back, but she'll adapt. She wouldn't let her second chance go to waste. Especially not when she has more to lose this time around.
1. Chapter 1: autumn

**Full Summary:**

Obito sent her back. It was his final sacrifice, his final stand. He was sending her back to change everything, but like most things Team Seven did, things went wrong. Drastically so.

Stuck in a completely new dimension with no way back, Sakura has to adapt to things as they come. She was sent back to save her friends... to save everyone... She'd just have to do it for a completely new dimension. She wouldn't let her second chance go to waste. Especially not when she has more to lose this time around.

* * *

**retrogression - _noun_**

the act of retrogressing; movement backward.

degeneration; retrograde metamorphosis; passing from a more complex to a simpler structure.

* * *

**ATTENTION - THIS WORK IS IN THE MIDDLE OF UNDERGOING REVISIONS**

**This means some later chapters may not allign fully with edited chapters. Edited chapters are ones with uncapitalised letters.**

* * *

She came to her senses with a spoon shoved halfway down her throat.

If that wasn't confusing enough, then she also had seven other witnesses all peering at her curiously with black eyes half hidden behind manes of pink hair as she choked on whatever the hell had just been in her mouth. _What was going on? _Sakura wondered, just as small feet stamped on the ground one after another, and soon enough she was being stampeded by a herd of pink-haired children who, oddly enough, seemed somewhat similar in height to her.

"Onee-san!"

"NEE-CHAN!"

"Sakura-nee!"

Her heart clenched painfully for a split second, the ever constant ache in her chest racking up a notch as these children called her the same thing that Naruto and Sasuke had before… _before the fall… before they'd failed… before she'd lost everything. _Sakura blinked, taking a gulp of water as soon as she could, barely audible sounds escaping her lips as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on. "Huh?"

She sounded _so_ intelligent.

_And intelligence was supposed to be her strong point, _that mocking voice in the back of her head whispered_._

The last thing she remembered was… Obito. _That was right_. Obito had been staring at her, one rinnegan and one sharingan spinning dangerously as Kaguya approached, ready to wipe out the last two living people on the planet aside from herself. The sealing formula they'd laboured over for months had been under her feet… the one Naruto had entrusted to her, along with his hopes and dreams – one designed to send her back to before the whole nightmare had begun – and it had lit up in a flare of light before she'd ended up… wherever the hell she'd ended up.

A horrible weight settled in her gut. Wherever she was, it most certainly wasn't her – Haruno Sakura's – residence, where she and Obito had been aiming for. She was supposed to be in her younger body, ready to correct the timeline and save them all. She was meant to be the hero, no matter how badly the word burned her tongue. She was no hero. Not by a long shot, but she'd have to be one. _The hero Naruto should've been… but he was gone… along with everyone else too. _Even Obito was gone too, the last signs of him being the chakra which had carried her over to… someplace she wasn't supposed to end up. _She was alone… all alone in the big bad world…_

Sakura was nothing if not adaptable thanks to her years being hunted in a desolate wasteland with nothing but a grumpy Uchiha for company, and so she quickly took stock of her situation, pushing down all her reservations. She would make do with what she had. There was no other option, like always.

Fear curled in her gut, hands curling into fists. She had to, if she wanted to see her old friends at the end of everything. _Just like Naruto would've wanted… like he'd have done if he were there. He'd have adapted, and then tried to save as many people as he could. That was just the kind of person he was. _The kind of person she'd have to be. _She couldn't let any of them down, because she'd see them again in the Pure Lands. She wouldn't be able to face them if she failed. _Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, her gaze locking onto the bright bulbs of the lights above them as if they could will her sadness away. She needed a distraction, and the room itself proved to be enough of one by itself.

Beige walls met her gaze, melding into black tiling around the kitchen area tucked into the corner of the room. The flooring was wooden, old and worn, the brown rugs threadbare with questionable stains here and there. She was sitting right underneath one of the lights, kneeling atop a thin cushion in front of a traditional table. Like the one she had seen in Sasuke's childhood home, only this one was far more worn and far larger too – given the number of children seated around it.

Seven sets of eyes stared at her, seven mouths having just let out a bellow of some form of endearment whilst she'd been busy choking. _They'd called her sister, _she realised dumbly, and not because they were ghosts of her teammates_. She had siblings here… she wasn't alone in the house. The silence wasn't suffocating her. Childhood memories weren't eating away at her resolve. _Pink hair obscured her vision all of a sudden, confused black eyes peering at her in concern, hands pawing at her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I'm fine," she mumbled eventually, eyeing the girls calling her 'sister', needing space as she struggled to stop herself from drowning in the tidal wave of emotions threatening to overcome her. _She wasn't on her own. _"Stop crowding." _She'd always been afraid of being on her own… being left behind… again. _It was why she had been dreading the use of the seal. Obito had made it clear the seal was for one person and it wouldn't be him using it.

Something had gone wrong with their seal. That much was obvious. Haruno Sakura didn't have siblings. She was an only child… well, in the last dimension she'd lived in. Evidently something had gone seriously wrong with their calculations when they'd been dreaming up the idea of time travel – because clearly she hadn't just crossed time, but a dimension or two as well. She'd never met anyone else with her exact colouring of hair before, and the seal had been designed to shoot her back into her own body. So it was definitely the right body. She was just in the complete and utter wrong dimension.

"Sakura, honey?" a soft voice called, and she turned to face the owner of the unfamiliar sound. "You sure? You look a bit peaky…"

Soft, straight pink locks were styled up into a bun, a few loose strands framing a face which seemed oddly familiar, jade green eyes staring at her warmly as the woman waited for Sakura to jolt out of her stupor. _It looked closer to what her face had looked like before the seal. _She blinked a few times, before she reminded herself she was there on a mission.

"Kaa-chan…" The word fell out of her lips almost instinctively, her mind somehow conjuring up the name of the woman in front of her – her mother – and she wasn't Haruno Mebuki. She was Misa, no last name. "I'm fine." A bright smile lit up her lips, despite the pain in her chest. _Everything was gone. _The truth of the situation hit home in that instant. She was no longer a Haruno… she'd given up that name. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought, but then a set of small arms wrapped around her, and she reminded herself she was a shinobi, and they were nothing if not adaptable. _She _was adaptable. _Maybe it was for the best… not to be surrounded by familiarity… to be taunted by things long past._

"Saku-nee!" Somewhat spiky pink hair brushed against her arm, the style reminding her somewhat of her dearly departed Sasuke… well, if he'd let his hair grow out that long. There were a few shorter bits of hair spiking up in the traditional duck butt, the rest falling messily down her back. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, a wistful one. _She missed them, but they'd already been gone for far too long. She was used to the pain the thoughts of them brought. _Maybe she'd given up being a Haruno, but she'd already been somewhat prepared for that. She'd been prepared to throw everything away, and she had. Though it seemed the universe had actually given her something back instead for once – a family. _More than she'd been expecting._

"Mio-chan," she mumbled, the name coming to her as though she'd known it her whole life, and then Sakura started patting her head awkwardly. _How were siblings supposed to interact again? _Sakura racked her brain, trying to think of any sort of sibling love she'd witnessed, biting her lip when she nearly drew blank. Her fingers moved almost of their own volition, prodding against her newfound sister's forehead. _Forehead pokes. _She could pull those off. Those were simple enough. "Thank you, I'm fine now," she said, peering around the room they were gathered in. It looked to be a kitchen, dining, and living room of sorts, all crammed into one average-sized space, and that could only mean one thing. Her new family weren't quite as well off as her old one… _but that was OK_, Sakura thought to herself. She could change that when she became a shinobi again… well, she could certainly try, though it might be hard – considering she now seemed to have nine siblings to provide for.

_Nine._

She was four-years-old. Sakura didn't know how she already knew, but she did. It was like she'd been living there for years already rather than a matter of minutes, memories filtering through her brain as she sat there.

She was the eldest of them all, she learnt in a flash, born the first of three. She was a triplet, along with Mio and Akira, her sisters… partners in crime too, if her memories were anything to go by. Her heart beat faster, her small smile breaking into a soft grin concealed under the shock of pink hair falling in front of her face as she stared at the ground. _She had already lost everything, so it was an unexpected bonus to have seven bright faces staring at her with something akin to adoration. _She had siblings, lots of them… something she'd always wanted, considering she'd been an only child before. She'd wanted a younger sister to share her adventures and secrets with. Now she had several, though she had the strangest sensation the novelty would soon wear off. _They filled the gap everyone else had left somewhat, at least. She just had to ensure they—_

Her mind ground to a halt, the hairs on the back of her neck pricking as she realised something she'd forgotten – something she'd overlooked.

Danzo… and other various creeps like Orochimaru.

They were alive now, along with the rest of the world, and she had siblings this time around. Danzo had to be the biggest concern. He was known for kidnapping orphans and other talented children, but she couldn't exactly stay a talentless child… not for what she knew was coming… and that meant she'd no doubt make it onto his radar, hopefully after she'd graduated from the academy, but if that happened then his greedy eyes would probably turn to her family. _She had things to lose now, the main ones being her sisters. They were already precious to her. She already wasn't sure if she could live without them, some part of her clinging to them like a leech. They were her anchors in her new world._

Something inside her bristled at the idea of Danzo stealing them, like an angry cat uncurling from a nap. She was no longer a Haruno, and she didn't seem to have a father around to help support them along with their mother. There wasn't as much protection. Not for her, and not for her siblings.

Rage built inside her at the thought, and she quickly excused herself from the table, her feet guiding her almost instinctively to the room she shared with her sisters. It was an attic room, plain white futons rolled out on the floor, a single floor-length mirror propped in the corner. _Nobody would touch her sisters. _Sakura would make sure of that, despite the growing pit of fear in her stomach. She'd barely known her new flesh and blood siblings for more than a matter of minutes, and yet somehow she was already fiercely protective of them.

They were _hers _and god help anyone who tried to say otherwise.

_Focus, _Sakura told herself, trying to pull her thoughts out of the vicious spiral of _mine, protect _she'd fallen into. She was there to save the world and prevent a certain spiky long-haired Uchiha from accidentally unleashing Kaguya on them again. Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be on their own this time around though. Sakura would ensure that – but, her mind had to repeat, her new siblings had to take priority. It was like it was hardwired into her new brain. _Family first_… but she supposed she could add Naruto and Sasuke to her makeshift family at some point… adopt them like the brothers they'd been to her in her last life.

_Wasn't that a thought? Her last life… Not many people got more than one…_

She approached the mirror, arms folded, her face serious as she glared into the reflective surface. Her eye twitched. _What the hell had Obito done? _Her gaze narrowed, hands reaching up to prod at the numerous spikes of hair sticking out all over the place. Gone was her nice silky straight hair – _a reminder of her failure – _replaced by a mane of untameable spikes reaching halfway down her back.

Black eyes glared venomously at her reflection.

Obito was so dead.

Red flickered into sight, three tomoe spinning viciously as her fury increased tenfold, annoyance marring her arguably much scarier face when the tomoe morphed into pinwheels.

Obito was so very very dead.


	2. Chapter 2: red

Sharingan.

She had the damned sharingan.

Sakura fought the urge to swear, reminding herself she was biologically a child – her reflection was proof – and there was a roomful of impressionable children, as well as her mother next door. She wouldn't introduce her _precious _siblings to swearwords and the like just yet, if ever.

_And there went the protective instincts again. _She let out a sigh. It was probably just because she was the eldest… and likely _Uchiha _by blood now, if she could deactivate her sharingan.

She blinked at the mirror, pulling her chakra back to her core, watching as red faded into black almost instantly. Swaying on her feet, her hand went to her head, an odd wave of exhaustion flooding through her. Her body was too young to support the immense chakra drain, especially considering she had mangekyou sharingan. _Obito's Mangekyou. _And all the blindness that entailed.

Her eyes slammed shut, and she held her breath, listening for anything out of the ordinary. _Like the creak of a rooftile, or the muted thud of a sandal as it hurried off. _She pulled at her small puddle of chakra, larger than what she'd had as a genin but still a bit shy of what she'd had as an adult. Not by too much though, and it rather alarmed her. She wasn't used to having so much chakra in a tiny little body. _And larger amounts of chakra made puberty worse, or so she'd heard. _Sakura barely swallowed her groan when she realised she'd have to go through that. _Again._

There were no sounds. Nothing out of the ordinary. No one had seen her sharingan – her _fully matured _sharingan, which Sakura supposed she deserved, given all the trauma she had received and recalled whilst being shoved into a tiny little half-Uchiha's body. _Clear. _She was in the clear, along with her siblings. She was a triplet too, and she was four-years-old. That meant he sisters could awaken the sharingan. _Become targets for dojutsu thieves, and people like Danzo, given they were living outside the Uchiha District. _

They were in danger.

But then there was the Uchiha Massacre to consider, and her blood ran cold. Judging by her age, she had been sent back _before _that particular tragedy had rocked Konoha. _They couldn't be found, _she decided right then and there_. _Her heart thudded painfully in her chest at the thought of losing her siblings, that same vicious monster in the back of her head stirring, and Sakura found herself wanting to rip something apart. _Well, she had always been a ball of rage and anger when she'd been a child, thanks to all those bullies picking on her. She had just held herself back because ladies didn't raise their voices or hit anybody. _Sakura sneered at the memory. A fat lot of good that had ever done her.

She was done trying to be a lady _for Sasuke. _There were more important things for her to focus on, like saving the world for one and staying off Danzo's watchlist. Orochimaru wouldn't be in the village still, so he was less of a concern – not that she was about to forget the threat he posed. Danzo was the more problematic one.

Sakura fought the urge to rip out her new spiky locks. _If only there was a simple way to deal with ROOT. _If only the idiotic Hokage had done something about him rather than being a _sentimental old fool, _as Tsunade had called him once she'd learnt exactly what Danzo had gotten up to over the years.

A harsh breath left her lips, body sagging ever so slightly as she walked over the messy futons, silently reminding herself she'd need to start making the beds. _Like her parents had always nagged her back when she was still a Haruno. _There were ten of them in total, and that meant they'd probably generate ten times as much mess as she had back when she was a single child.

Chakra cushioned her footfalls like silk, years of creeping around in a barren, silent world coming to haunt her. Her chakra moved slightly more turbulently than before, no longer the constant steady trickle like a tap. Instead it was like a jet, a high-powered one, and it was only her memory of the tight grasp she'd had over her old trickling chakra which let her control her newly fast-flowing chakra. It was only a reasonable amount of control, something which irked Sakura, and silently she prayed she could claw her control back.

_Not possible, _that voice in the back of her head whispered. _Her control had been in the ninety-ninth percentile. _The fact she couldn't control her chakra as well as she originally had, and she could only improve her control so much. It was how she had ended up in the band of people with prodigal control in the first place.

She wouldn't be in that band anymore.

Her hands curled into fists. _There would be no Yin Seal for her this time around. _Her fighting style was ruined. But it wasn't like that was the end of the world. Her fighting style didn't make her who she was, so she would move on and adjust. She'd had to pay something for acquiring the sharingan, and the universe had obviously decided on her chakra control.

_She would have preferred her chakra control. _

At least she'd still have her monstrous strength, if only because that didn't take as much chakra control. Still, she'd miss that familiar diamond on her slightly too large forehead. _Though her forehead was no longer all that large anymore. _Give and take, the universe liked to. Sakura could only be slightly grateful it was somewhat consistent with what parts of her it messed with.

"Saku-nee!" The door slammed open, and Sakura whirled on her feet, vision clicking and the world suddenly became so much sharper. Mio, one of her triplet group, bounded into the room, a smile on her face which vanished in an instant. She stumbled back, yelping all of a sudden, which soon became clear as she screeched for their mother. "Kaa-chan! Something's wrong with Saku-nee's eyes!" Mio yelled, running out of the bedroom and back into the main one.

_Oh. _Sakura blinked, gaze flickering over to the mirror where two shining red pools met her stare. _Uchiha instincts to activate the sharingan when something surprised them, and the instincts of several years of being hunted apparently weren't the best mix. _

She had failed in her _be unremarkable _scheme already. Sakura was only thankful she'd messed up around her new family rather than strangers who'd gossip about it and spread rumours all over Konoha. "Sakura…" Misa sprinted into the room, hands shaking as they came to rest on her small bony shoulders. _She really needed to start building some muscle, _she decided. "Oh no." Misa closed those green eyes which reminded her so vividly of her old set. "Sakura, sweetie, can you turn them off?" she asked, worry painted all across her face.

She switched them off in an instant, swaying once again on her feet as the chakra drain hit. The sharingan was exhausting to her little self, and she knew she'd have to supress her urge to activate it when startled. _If she didn't there'd only be one trouble after the next. _She refused to get her siblings, and herself, tangled in the mess that was the Uchiha Clan before its downfall.

"Is nee-chan gonna be OK?" Akira, the other of her triplet group peered around the door, and Sakura felt her heart swell. _Her sisters were so cute. _

"She'll be just fine," Misa said, ruffling Akira's hair before sending her on her way. "Go and tell your sisters not to worry," she called after her, before turning back to Sakura.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably on her feet. _How exactly was she supposed to get out of this?_ she wondered.

"Come with me, Sakura," Misa mumbled, running a hand through her hair as she took her smaller one in her own, leading her over through the main room and into her bedroom instead. The door clicked shut behind them, and she shivered at the serious look on her mother's face. "We'll need to have a little talk."

"About what?" she chirped, playing the part of an innocent, clueless child. She had no right knowing about the Uchiha Clan and their infamous dojutsu at her age. Especially since she was just a little civilian girl with no connection to a clan.

"Your eyes, silly girl," she explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed, patting the space next to her. "Or don't you wonder about why they've changed?"

"Oh, the sparkly red?" she queried, swallowing nervously as she debated how best to explain things. _She doubted her civilian mother would believe her if she said she'd hopped dimensions, so it was up to her to successfully pass for a little pink-haired child._

"That's the one," Misa said, hand coming to ruffle her hair, and Sakura couldn't resist the temptation to lean into her side. It felt nice not to be the only one. _Well, aside from a grumpy Uchiha who hadn't been offering out any hugs or form of comforting touch. _"They're very special eyes, you see," she began, and Sakura struggled to hide the soft smile which wanted to pull at her lips. "But"—a poke on her nose snapped her attention back to the present like a rubber band—"with all special things… great power comes with great responsibility, and even greater people who might want to steal it away to claim it for their own."

Sakura blinked. She had been expecting the 'with great power comes great responsibility' though she hadn't quite been prepared for her mother's rendition of it. "Oh," she mumbled wisely. "Uh…" Silently she fumbled for an appropriate question, nearly slumping in relief when it popped into her head. "Do you have the sparkly red too, kaa-chan?"

Shaking her head, her mother sighed. "That comes from your tou-san, sweetie," Misa explained, and Sakura leant forwards, legs swinging back and forth eagerly as she pounced on the opportunity to learn more.

"My tou-san?" She stared pleadingly up at her mother, an expectant smile on her face.

Misa chuckled. "I'll tell you about him some other day," she murmured, something akin to panic flashing across her face before her expression settled back into a faintly amused one. "But you feel a bit tired, don't you?"

Sakura nodded vigorously.

"Those eyes of yours are what's caused that, since they use a lot of what's known as chakra – which I can tell you more about at a later date – and if you use too much, then you might get really sleepy and not wake up, understand?"

"I understand," she sung petulantly. She was a medic. She had been drilled extensively on why it was a very bad idea to wind up with chakra exhaustion. _Even more so when one had an angry Tsunade looming over them. _

"Good." Misa nodded, hand moving to ruffle her hair yet again. "Why don't you stay in here and have a nap until dinner? You must be tired after all of this."

"But—"

A finger was pressed to her lips. "Hush," she ordered, standing once more. "Get some rest, OK, sweetie?"

Sakura puffed out her cheeks, folding her arms sullenly. _She wasn't a little kid—_oh wait. She was, if only by technicality. "Fine," she grumbled, letting out a sigh and uncrossing her arms as she pulled back the covers of her mother's bed and sank into the soft sheets. _It smelled faintly of lavender, _she realised, noting the purple colouring of the blankets. _Maybe it was her mother's favourite colour… _Sakura stared back up at the ceiling. _She'd have to find out in the coming months. _

She would be a better daughter this time around. _And not just because she had so many cute siblings looking up to her… _A blush crept into her cheeks and she pulled the covers up to hide it. _Though that was certainly good motivation._

* * *

"I don't know what to do, Tomoe," the voice which rang out took Sakura a moment to place as she rubbed at her sleep crusted eyes. "She's got them," her mother continued. "Her father's eyes." A choked sob escaped Misa's lips, and Sakura found herself pushing back the covers and creeping over to the door.

The light was on behind it, spilling under the slight gap in the door, and the curtains were drawn, signalling it was later than when she'd drifted off to dreamland. Cautiously, Sakura made her way over, wary of any creaky floorboards. This was her chance to learn more about what was going on. _What Misa thought she couldn't tell her because she was a child. _

"Tell them if you're so worried," an unfamiliar lady spoke, and Sakura's brow furrowed. It had to be 'Tomoe' whoever that was. "They could protect them, and they'd have the entire clan to back them up…"

Soft laughter broke the air. The hopeless, broken kind. "They were never supposed to be born," Misa said, and ice shot through Sakura's chest. She cast her eyes to the ground. _It wasn't as though she hadn't suspected that fact – single mother of ten children… who would plan for that? _Though it didn't mean the truth hurt any less. "I was just… a friend to them. Someone who fit with them for a time… someone who blended in with them. If they found out I wound up pregnant because of them… and that I kept the truth from them… I don't know what they would do."

"They might take them away," Tomoe said grimly. "I guess there's a chance of that happening."

"I'm selfish," Misa mumbled, and Sakura set her hand on the door, wishing she could go and hug her mother. _She sounded so sad. _Yet she was learning more and more about the situation with every moment. So eavesdropping it was. "It's all the worse because of that damned kekkei genkai…"

"The sharingan, huh…"

"That's the one," Misa murmured.

"They could accuse you of kekkei genkai theft," Tomoe remarked, and Sakura silently wished she could bash the woman's head against the wall. She was supposed to be cheering up and supporting her mother out there. "Their clan elders probably would."

Misa snorted. "Clan elders are the worst…"

"Still, it's better to tell them sooner rather than later." The shadows under the door shifted, floor creaking slightly as they moved about outside. "They're shinobi. They'll figure it out eventually… after all, your eldest is pretty much the spitting image of her father."

Sakura twirled her long spiky hair around her finger, pudgy hands going to press at her cheeks. _Who exactly was her father, _she wanted to know. Eyes narrowed. _It had better not have been Obito. _Otherwise she'd have to do something drastic… _to make his life a misery_. She smirked at the thought. That would undoubtedly be very satisfying. _The pranking, not the identity of her father, that was._

"If you discount the hair colour and the baby fat," Misa said, letting out another sigh. "Some of the younger ones take too much after their father too."

"Whatever you decide to do, I'll support you," Tomoe said. "I'm your friend, and you've got plenty of others too who'll help. Don't forget that."

"I won't," Misa mumbled. "It's just… I'm… me… and they're… them."

"Well, I guess you could wait a little while, but don't delay things too long," her mother's friend continued, voice stern. "Nothing good comes from waiting."

"I know."

"Though, on another note, it smells as though your dinner is ready…"

Sakura sprinted back to bed, chakra cloaking her slightly too loud footsteps as she all but dived back under the covers. The door clicked open moments later, and Sakura caught sight of brown hair fluttering behind the lady as she walked out of the apartment. "Kaa-chan?" She tilted her head, blinking owlishly at the backlit figure of her mother.

"Dinnertime, sweetie," Misa chirped, coming to hover by her bedside. "You feeling better now?"

Nodding, Sakura pushed herself out from under the covers, cheeks reddening as her stomach growled noisily.

"Ah." Misa chuckled. "Seems someone's hungry… Could you go and get your sisters? Tell them dinner is about to be served."

"Sure thing!" she all but sang, wandering out of her mother's nice room, through the main room, and back into her own bedroom. _Which she now shared with nine others. _

She barely managed to open the door before she was assaulted. "SAKU-NEE!" Akira, the other of her triplet group, screamed. Small arms locked around her chest, and Sakura hit the ground with a light thud. "You're alright!"

"I told you your Saku-nee would be fine, dear," Misa called from the kitchenette, the sound of clinking plates and cutlery telling Sakura her meal would soon be served. _And it smelt wonderful… _so much better than ration bars.

_She'd probably be sick if she had to lay eyes on the carboard-tasting meals she had been surviving off for years. _Sighing softly, she stared up at the ceiling, her view of the light only blocked when small faces peered down at her curiously.

"Saku-nee?" Mio questioned, eyebrows raised for a few moments before she rounded on Akira – who was still happily sprawled atop her. "Idiot! You tackled her too hard!"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, pushing herself to a sitting position despite the weight latched onto her chest. "Aki just surprised me."

"See!" Akira cried, looking smug and satisfied as she pushed herself to her feet. "I can't hurt Saku-nee by hugging her. Nothing can, especially now she's got cool eyes!"

"Akira," Misa called sharply, jade green eyes narrowing on the child in question. "You remember what we talked about before, don't you?"

Akira pouted. "Family secret," she grumbled, folding her arms petulantly.

"Correct, now – all of you, to the table!" Misa demanded, and Sakura didn't wait to obey. She made her way to the overly-large table, kneeling down at the place she'd sat earlier that very same day. _It had only been a matter of hours since she'd arrived. _Yet it was so very confusing… and somehow, she was already adapting to everything.

Black eyes stared at her out from underneath spiky hair, though not quite as wild as her own new locks were. Mio noticed her stare, a wide smile stretching across her face as she sat down next to her. Akira sat on her other side, grabbing her hand in her own as she hummed a child's rhyme her… _Mebuki _had often sung to her back before.

Sakura glanced down at their joined hands, enjoying the warmth her sister's hand radiated. _Alive, _it whispered to her. _Here. _

She wasn't alone anymore.

She had things to protect this time around.

And the thought terrified her.

* * *

The leaves were falling from the trees, most coloured a burnished red, so similar to the colour of blood which had been spilt in her memories. It was autumn, soon to be winter, and she would be turning five-years-old in a matter of months. _And she could start at the academy if she so desired to in the coming spring. _Sighing, Sakura pulled herself away from one of the two windows in their attic room, casting her eyes back on the sight of her _nine _new siblings. She still could hardly get her head around the number. _The side effect of a kekkei genkai? Or one itself? _The probability of having two sets of triplets and twins was astronomical, and Sakura was better at betting than Tsunade ever had been.

Though, speaking of bets, she was awfully worried about what would happen the day it became legal for Akira to gamble. She took after their mother in most ways aside from the potential gambling problem. It was actually kind of scary how fast she'd learnt to play cards _and win at it. _Sakura chuckled lowly, blinked at the difference in her laughter from _before _and after. _It sounded very Uchiha in nature now. _Sakura blamed Obito.

Even if he was likely her father. _He'd had spiky hair… which probably would have turned into her current mop if he had let it grow out. _Sakura bit her lip. But Obito should have been presumed dead by then. _A close relative of Obito's then? _But Obito hadn't had much family. He'd told her so himself on the rare occasion he'd been feeling chatty.

_Something was wrong._ Her eyes narrowed. _And she intended to find out exactly what._

A loud huff had her attention focusing on Akira's sprawled out form, and she sniggered again. The building tension in her stomach had dissipated at the sight of the little pink-haired girl lying across two futons like a starfish. Her long, silky, pink strands were spread all over Mio's legs. The same locks which made Sakura feel a bit jealous. That hair would be easy to get a brush through. Her own new spiky locks however… that would be a different story entirely.

Mio might have suffered along with her, but something told Sakura she'd be able to brush those slightly spiky locks with ease. The rest of her siblings likely wouldn't have an issue, given their hair was shorter on the whole. _Well, at least until Akane grew up, or until Sora decided to grow out her hair. _They both looked to have pink spikes of some degree – though until they grew them out… Sakura would suffer on her own against the perils of hairbrushes and thick, fluffy spikes.

"Nee-chan?" Sleepy black eyes peered up at her from the closest futon, one of the twins born roughly a year after her glancing up at her. A hand tugged at her pyjama bottoms, ensuring they had her attention. "Sleep." Seiren patted the space next to her, budging back to make a place for her between herself and her twin, Sora.

Sakura smiled, yawning shortly after. It was about time she got some sleep, so she wasted no time in tucking herself in between them. "Sleep, Ren-chan," she mumbled, ruffling the hair which sorely reminded her of Sasuke. _The traditional Uchiha duck butt. _The thought made her stomach flip, and a fond smile spread across her face.

It was surprisingly easy for her to fall asleep there, even with two unfamiliar bodies pressed against her in some mockery of a hug. The pair were the next oldest, at the nice solid age of three, though they didn't act like it. They were twins, yet they were always at each other's throat. Sakura was fairly sure they would be tussling in their sleep _just like they had at dinner _without her there in between them.

Apparently, they unconsciously knew better than to attract her ire by beating her up in their sleep. Sighing, she snuggled into the pillow underneath her. It was comfy, _and not hard-baked earth_, so she was happy.

_She could get used to this._

_Or not, _she mused, clutching her stomach minutes after being woken up by an overenthusiastic Ran jumping on top of her. She had scrambled for a weapon for a few moments before she'd recognised the tiny feet as a nonthreat. _Kaguya would have killed her in one blow, before she could even wake up. _But she wasn't back in that wasteland.

Instead, she was with her siblings. Including the awfully quiet Ran who was apparently quite the little terror when given the opportunity. Her eyes slitted open, locking on the slowly growing out pink duck butt which put Seiren's to shame with its volume and length. "Ran-chan," she sung, throwing back the covers, hands at the ready. "You know this means war, don't you?"

Ran yelped, turning to run, but Sakura was already looming over her, tackling her gently down on top of one of the futons laid out across the floor. "Nee!" she choked out, giggling as Sakura's hands attacked her very ticklish sides. "Nee-chan," Ran gasped, and Sakura smirked. "Shtop!"

"Not until you say mercy!" Sakura declared.

Ran giggled.

"Breakfast is ready, girls," Misa called, appearing in the doorway, a fond smile on her lips as those jade green eyes wandered over them. "You can play after… though Tomoe will be over soon, and we'll be taking you all out to the park."

It was practically a stampede to get to the breakfast table thanks to that tidbit of information.

Sakura hung back, smiling as a smaller hand slipped inside her own. _She loved having siblings, no matter how much her stomach hurt._

Breakfast was over before she knew it, a brown-haired lady arriving – whom Sakura vaguely recognised from the evening before – who soon introduced herself as Tomoe. Though they were allowed to call her oba-chan.

"You girls ready to go to the park?" Tomoe called, and Sakura could only chuckle as all of her sisters ran towards the door. "I'll take that as a yes," she mumbled. "Right. Time for all of you to put your coats and shoes on. I won't be having any of you catching a cold, not with winter just around the corner."

Sakura went to the peg with her name, quickly pulling on the fluffy black coat which had undoubtedly seen many uses. Her boots followed just as quickly. It wasn't like she could wear sandals, since it wasn't quite summer and she wasn't supposed to be able to circulate her chakra to keep her toes warm.

"Nee?" A tiny hand pulled at her sleeve, and Sakura turned to find one of her youngest siblings holding out a tiny coat.

"Oh," she mumbled, hurrying to help her _adorably tiny _sister put on her coat. She buttoned it all the way to the top, humming in approval when she stepped back and surveyed her warmly wrapped sibling. _She wouldn't be getting sick from the cold anytime soon. _

Nozomi smiled up at her, short pink hair falling straight, making Sakura struggle not to be jealous of those short straight locks. The comb had felt like it was tearing out most of her hair earlier.

"Whose going to be walking with Akane and Nozomi?" Sakura demanded, glaring up at Tomoe. _They were tiny and couldn't be left to their own devices, _she decided right then and there. _Mother hen, _a sly voice in the back of her head reminded, and Sakura supressed the blush. She was just a little overprotective of her siblings, but that was perfectly natural. _For a traumatised baby Uchiha. _

Tomoe smiled down at her. "I'll be staying with them, Saku-chan," she said. "Don't you worry."

Sakura scowled, folding her arms as she glared up at her self-proclaimed aunt. "Don't you dare take your eyes off them for a second, understand?"

"Aww," the older woman cooed, pinching at her cheeks before she could make a hasty escape. "Saku-chan, you're so cute when you're being a protective older sister."

Twitching, Sakura scowled at the woman – which just made her coo all the harder – until she let go, seemingly ignoring how she was quietly seething. She wasn't supposed to be cute and cuddly, _aside from when she was alone with her siblings, of course_. She was meant to be scary and intimidating. That was the look she was going for, especially with her wild hair and scary face which did not come from her new mother. She had inherited most of her father's looks, aside from the pinkness, and Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly grateful for that fact for when it came to intimidation.

A doe-eyed little girl with silky straight pink hair would never be able to strike fear into the hearts of whatever enemies she came across, whether they be bullies or rogue shinobi. A sharp-eyed, spiky-haired, flame-spewing pink-haired girl on the other hand…

She would make her legend.

No matter how many idiots she needed to beat up.

Obito, coincidentally, was at the top of that list.


	3. Chapter 3: parks

The sounds of the hustle and bustle of the village met her as she stepped out of the little door leading to the alleyway which soon branched onto the main street. It was their front door, given the only set of stairs which reached up to the fourth floor – their attic – could only be accessed via there. It was mainly to prevent guests from accidentally finding their way up to where they were. Though admittedly there was another access, but it was behind a door which was labelled 'Staff Only' which was usually locked after a certain point in the night. _Or was it early morning? _Sakura tilted her head, humming quietly as Misa led them down the streets.

Her hood was safely up, her hair tied in a horrifically spiky ponytail thanks to her mother's attempts to brush her untameable hair. _She blamed Obito in his entirety, and she was going to prank the nearest version of him she could find. _Spiky bangs fell over her face, the feeling oddly comforting as she concealed her pink-haired Uchiha-ness as best as she could.

A tug on her sleeve had her looking down, blinking at the sight of her counterpart in the next set of triplets. "Neh, nee-chan," Tora chirped, pointing over at a crowd gathered by a nearby alley. "Why're they all like that?"

"I don't know," she said, frowning at the large gathering. "You would probably have to ask them." Sakura shrugged, frowning as she caught sight of the flak jacket of a chunin, eyes only narrowing when she spotted the Uchiwa stitched on his sleeve. _Konoha Military Police? _"We should…" Sakura trailed off, blinking at the space Tora had once occupied. "Tora!" she yelled, eyes darting about as she tried to find the pink bowl cut amidst all the legs she could see.

Her mother and Tomoe had already continued on, though there was no doubt they would soon notice their absence – even with the absurd number of her siblings they had to mind. She wanted to find Tora before they came looking. Chewing on her lip, she peered through the forest of legs, almost shouting in relief when she spotted a flash of pink.

"Neh, mister, what's going on?" Tora asked, having tugged on the legs of his trousers to get his attention while Sakura had been busy panicking over her disappearance.

"Nothing that concerns you, brat," the man muttered gruffly, shaking his leg free, turning away from Tora as quickly as he could. _Like she was a dirty little beggar. _

"Arse," Sakura hissed, reaching for her sister – only for her to slip into the gathered crowd. Her eye twitched, and internally she cursed the apparent curiousness of her sister. _Who shared the same name as the blasted cat who was horribly hard to catch. _Sakura prayed her sibling never managed to obtain the same level of elusiveness. "Tora!" she whispered-yelled, weaving artfully through the legs of the adults, too focused on that and finding her precious sister to listen to the murmurs of the adults around her.

Maybe she might have been more prepared for the scene her sister was staring at in confusion.

Sakura blinked, taking a few moments to digest the scene in front of her before she was slamming her hands over Tora's eyes and yanking her back into her chest. "Don't look," she hissed, staring at the corpse still in full view as shinobi who could only be the Uchiha Military Police Force milled about.

"Get a sheet to cover this," the one in charge hissed, glancing nervously at the civilian crowd behind him, dark eyes only widening when he spotted the pair of them.

Sakura ignored the horrified man, instead staring at the burnt, blackened head of the corpse, and the single, neat red line across the throat. Though it was less neat with all the congealed blood which surrounded it. His throat had been slit, and then his head had been burnt. Sakura tilted her head, blinking blandly as her view of the corpse was cut off by the same concerned-looking Uchiha. _Somebody clearly hadn't want him being recognised. _Sakura wondered why – until she quashed that horrible _childish _curiosity.

_It was only the curiosity of a shinobi, _or so she told herself moments later.

"This isn't a place for you children," he said, ducking under the police tape holding back the crowd. "Where are your parents?"

"Neh, nee-chan… is he talking to us?" Tora asked rather calmly considering she still had her vision blocked. "Lemme see!"

"No," Sakura barked, tightening her grip on her little sister as she squirmed in her arms – at least until the both of them were swept off their feet and perched on an arm each, belonging to the Uchiha who couldn't have been older than thirty at the most. There were no grey hairs as far as she could see. But then again, Uchiha always tended to age well.

"Izuna-sama!" one of the Uchiha behind them called.

The one holding them _Izuna _turned his head. "You can deal with things for a few moments. I need to get these children back to their parents – and you, bowl cut, stop looking behind."

Tora pouted. "Why?"

"Because I said so," he muttered, carrying them both through the crowd, eyes peeled for their parents or so it seemed to Sakura. "Now let's find us a pink-haired—"

"Sakura! Tora!" the familiar voice of their mother sounded, and Sakura looked around, a smile on her face as she spied Misa running over to them. "Honestly… didn't I tell you not to run off?"

"Her fault," Sakura declared, pointing at Tora.

"Oh." Misa blinked, taking in their apparent rescuer, pausing in her step.

Izuna frowned. "Misa-chan?"

"Izuna…" she murmured, looking at the ground even as Izuna placed the pair of them on the ground. Sakura's eyes narrowed. _There was no honorific to his name. _

He smiled then, glancing between the three of them. "I guess this is why you haven't been over lately, then… huh," he said, stepping back, glancing back over at the crime scene where he was needed. "You know you can always drop back, even if you are… attached to someone now. Nii-san loves children, despite how much he says otherwise… plus he might not say it, but I know he misses you."

"I'll… think about it," Misa said awkwardly, watching as he hurried back over to do his job.

Tora turned to peer up at their mother then. "Who was that, kaa-chan?"

Misa smiled, an odd mix of fear and nostalgia lingering in the air as she ruffled their hair. "An old friend," she said, herding the pair of them over towards the park.

* * *

The park they visited was different to the one she had been to as a child in her last life. Still, Sakura had barely caught sight of Naruto and Sasuke in her last life when she was the same age as she was right then. So it came as a slight surprise when she spotted a head of blonde spikes, running around the park, disturbing all the red autumn leaves as they went. Sakura blinked, a soft smile pulling at her lips. It seemed she'd found her old teammates, she mused, having spied a familiar head of black hair which matched Seiren's own style. But how was she supposed to introduce herself? _Should she even try?_

Sasuke already seemed to have a few fangirls watching him even then, and Sakura didn't really want him to mistake her for another. Not when she actually wasn't one of the ravenous horde. Then again, it wasn't like she had to go up to him right away… his brother and his cousin, if Sakura remembered correctly, were standing nearby. Sasuke had told her about them – Itachi and Shisui – and if they were anything like what her old friend had said, then she probably wanted to try and make a good impression.

Not that it would matter much.

Itachi was due to slaughter his clan in a few years.

_Her clan now too, _the snide part of her mind reminded. _Her _clan would be dead in a matter of years.

Well, unless Sakura magically managed to change things, but she doubted it would be possible. She was a child of the red light district. She didn't really have much political sway, nor any way of actually influencing the clan or others who came into contact with them. She didn't have influential civilian parents this time around either – only Misa, not that she minded.

She already loved her new mother. Mainly for putting up with the bunch of hellions that were her children. They were a downright curious and oddly cheerful bunch. Anyone else might've thrown them in an orphanage and separated them. Sakura's teeth clenched at the thought. They couldn't be separated. Ever. They were her siblings. _Hers. _Silently, Sakura reminded herself to keep her overprotective tendencies to a minimum. They were already crazy enough as it was and thinking about them only made it that much worse. _Probably the Uchiha blood talking right there. _Her shoulders slumped at the thought.

"Saku-chan," Tomoe spoke, flicking one of her new pink spikes, cooing at her as she scowled. She wasn't overly fond of her new spikes, especially not when people flicked them at every chance they got. "What do you want to do, sweetheart?"

Sakura blinked, noting the fact that all of her siblings aside the youngest two had vanished. Her head swished from side to side, eyes frantically searching for heads of pink hair, relief sinking through her as she spotted them dotted through the park.

Sora and Seiren, the troublesome twins, were embroiled in a fight between themselves near the climbing frame – a fight she'd probably have to break up in a few minutes. A head of short pink spikes, and a pink duck butt hairstyle rolling in and out of view as they tussled on the ground. Sakura sighed. Those two had anything but a peaceful relationship, always trying to get ahead of the other, fighting over who got to sit next to her at the dining table. _They were so adorable. _She looked to the sky, eyeing the odd cloud in the sky. It was nice weather for autumn time, though it'd probably be nicer if her cute sisters weren't trying to throttle each other.

Casting her eyes over to the sandpit, she eyed the other two of her triplet group. Mio and Akira were there in the sand, and Sakura knew it'd no doubt be everywhere by the time they had to leave the park. In the words of the Naras, Akira was troublesome. Mio was the sensible one, as she'd already learnt. Shockingly that little tidbit had only taken her a few minutes to work out.

The two-year-old triplets were nearby, running about in what Sakura guessed to be a game of tag, and after sternly reminding Tomoe to keep a close eye on the rest of her siblings, she went to pry the twins apart.

"Sora! Seiren!" she grumbled, stomping over to them, arms folded, shrinking slightly as she felt the stares of other parkgoers boring into her back. The twins were anything but subtle, and if there was one thing Sakura was hoping to keep at least for a little while, it was anonymity. "Stop fighting, or I'll tell mum not to let you have any pudding later."

"But Sakura-nee—"

Sakura scowled, ignoring the pleading black eyes which seemed to bore into her very soul. She loved her sisters, and they were ridiculously cute, but she had to be strong. Had to defend them all from any and all dangers that might come their way. "Go and play together _nicely _on the swings or something."

"I can't play with her!" Sora hissed, pointing at her twin accusingly. "She started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Play nicely, or I'll make you run laps of the garden when we get home," Sakura hissed, bristling as she glared down at the pair. Obviously it wasn't a true glare – Sakura loved her siblings far too much to subject them to that – but the twins clearly weren't getting the message.

"Fine." Sora pouted. "Come on idiot," she grumbled, kicking her twin in the back, shoulders sinking as Sakura continued to stare at her in disapproval.

Sakura sighed, watching as the pair begrudgingly went over to the swings together. They were going to be a handful. She just knew it. They already had a damned rivalry, and if that didn't bring back memories of a slanted hitai-tai and green spandex she didn't know what would.

"Pink hair?"

Low voices reached her, a sliver of chakra threading its way to her ear. It was slightly more than necessary, but the leap through time space didn't seem to have affected her control that badly – though it would definitely need some finetuning.

"Do you think they're related to that whore in the akasen?" Lips curled in distaste and Sakura froze, not daring to turn around and identify the speakers. _They were just civilians. Gossiping civilians. The ignorant kind. The same ones who'd bullied her Naruto, but fortunately or unfortunately they didn't seem to be interested in him at that very moment. _"What do they call her?"

"The Angel of the Akasen, if my memory serves." Sniggers sounded, subdued and probably outside the range of any normal four-year-old's hearing, but Sakura wasn't normal. "They say she's the best of the best."

"I wonder which unlucky bastard fathered them—"

"—poor guy probably got infected from—"

Sakura shifted her focus, toes cracking the ground minutely the longer she listened. _What gave them the right to judge her mother just because of her profession? _She scowled, glancing at the slightly ruined ground, grateful the damage was barely visible. Seemed her fuse was as short as ever. _She didn't have patience for fools, and she didn't tolerate idiots who got on her nerves. _Then again, there hadn't been any fools around by the end. _They were the ones who'd died first._

"Huh? Think they're related to _that _clan?"

She stiffened, fighting the overwhelming urge to stare at whoever had spoken. There were no doubts her people skills, as well as her infiltration skills were rusty. _Those skills hadn't mattered much in the last few years. _Not when the survivors had reached the single digits. It was no surprise she'd be having trouble adapting. Besides, her skill in those areas had never been particularly great, so she doubted she'd be able to fool anyone about her advanced maturity. _She'd already made the decision not to try and hide it. That would only garner suspicion and even more attention than that she'd no doubt gain when the time to enrol in the academy came about._

"—think _he'll _want to be brought up to date with this lovely bit of gossip?"

"Most definitely."

Sakura bit her lip. Her instincts were going haywire, shivers racing down her spine. She turned to face Mio and Akira, calming her racing heart as she focused on the sandcastle they were building. _Sandcastles were a nice distraction from the fear and worry building in the pit of her stomach. _She hurried towards them, a bright smile on her face as she made a mental note not to drop her guard anytime soon. _She'd need to ramp up her training too. _Whatever happened, she'd protect her siblings to her last breath. _She'd also need to visit the library sometime in the future. Knowledge and information was just as vital to survival as her fighting skills would be. _She'd have to ask Tomoe where the nearest library was at a later date.

Some buildings had been moved around from what she could tell, the few streets they'd passed on the way having different shops and stalls compared to what she remembered, though the general layout of Konoha was the same. She didn't particularly want to get lost and leave her sisters to their own devices. That would end badly, of that Sakura had no doubts. _If Akira, Sora, and Seiren concocted some bizarre prank or plot, then it'd be chaos._

"Nee-chan!" Akira waved her over, grinning widely from around the mound of sand they'd amassed and already started to shape. Her sisters were good when it came to sandcastles, and Sakura was going to use all of her skills to help them, because she was a good older sister. "You gonna help us?"

"Yup."

Childish laughter greeted her ears, her eyes glancing around the park, from the treeline of the small forest behind – it was the Village Hidden in the Leaves for a reason – to the various obstacles and little hutches around the playground area. No doubt she would've enjoyed playing on them if she really had been a child, but she was an adult. An adult who had nine younger sisters to look after. There was no time to slack off. _Not after what she'd heard._

A cry of dismay had her spinning around just in time to spy a head of blonde hair and a head of black hair leaping through the sandpit in a game of tag. Sakura scowled, pure irritation shooting through her as two pairs of feet stomped over her sisters' sandcastle.

"Sorry!" Naruto yelled, sparing a second to glance back at her distraught siblings before continuing with his game of tag.

Her hands curled into fists, feet storming after the two idiots she'd called friends in her last life, ignoring her sister's shout.

"Saku-nee, it's OK! We can build 'nother one," Mio called, trying to stop her.

Sakura scowled. "Oy!" she yelled, bringing Sasuke to a stop with a firm grip on his shoulder.

Sasuke had a matching scowl on his face, annoyance at his game being interrupted no doubt. "We don't want to play with you, Pinkie," he grumbled, a frown marring his tiny expression. The traitorous part of her brain called him cute. The other part wanted to pound him into the ground for his careless actions. _Her sisters had worked hard on that sandcastle, dammit. He wasn't going to get away with that, cute or not._

"You ruined my sisters sandcastle!" she hissed, pointing at the mess they'd left behind in their game. "I wouldn't want to play with you anyway, bully!"

He stomped his foot, face twisted in outright indignation. "Take that back! 'm not a bully."

"Err," Naruto scratched the back of his head, hesitantly trying to step between them, but a single glare from both of them had him fixed in place with a little squeak. "We can go back and help them…" he mumbled, trailing off quietly when he realised they were too busy glaring at each other to do much else. "I'll go and do that now," he declared, shoulders slumping when neither of them even glanced his way.

Sakura only watched out of the corner of her eye as the blonde went over to the sandpit where her sisters were sitting. Sasuke, meanwhile, was trying to burn her with his stare.

"Bully," she spat.

He folded his arms, attempting to look down on her. "Girl."

"Really? I couldn't tell," she drawled.

Sasuke twitched. "Hn. I'll go and help your stupid sisters…" he trailed off, eyes widening as he stared past her.

"They aren't stupid!" she snarled, pausing only to turn and look at what was holding Sasuke's attention… but there wasn't anything there… aside from her sister who was smiling at them hesitantly. She spun back to Sasuke, eyeing the blush forming on his cheeks, and… _oh… _"Oh hell no!" she hissed. "You aren't going anywhere near my sister with that stupid expression on your face."

"She's pretty…"

"She's my sister!" Sakura muttered. "Eyes off!"

"Hn." Sasuke stuck his nose in the air, walking towards her siblings before she could stop him. "Her hair is better than your ugly mop. Plus you're _annoying_."

All in all, she decided, she couldn't really be blamed for tackling him into the sandpit… plus there was also the beautiful friendship she'd somehow managed to wrangle for her sisters, at least.


	4. Chapter 4: Pink-Haired Antics

"Saku-nee…" Mio's voice rang out through the small garden attached to the back of the brothel. It had no doubt once been beautiful, but years of unattendance had left it an overgrown mess. Sakura supposed it was lucky it had been, otherwise she most likely wouldn't have been able to use it. She sighed, glancing over at her sister who'd managed to find her in the mess that they called a garden. The dark green grass was overgrown and ridiculously tall, numerous vines creeping up the garden walls, large plants obscuring the sliding doors leading back inside. The few benches dotted around the place were still in surprisingly good condition, but the little brick shed was ruined. Well, the brickwork, at least, was tumbling down, forming little piles of moss-covered stones here and there. She was using the neat wooden flooring as a training ground for her katas, since it was still in fairly good shape, likely thanks to the roof being intact and protecting it from the worst of the elements. It was on that wood that her sister stood, staring at her levelly with tired eyes. "Saku-nee, what you doing?" Mio yawned, scratching at her mildly spiky pink locks. "You're always out here… every night…"

She'd been in the past for weeks now, and she hadn't wasted any time in getting back into her old routines. Well, what she could do of them. She was no longer a fully-grown adult, and her limp noodles of limbs were still taking some getting used to. Still, she wanted to get some semblance of her old fighting skills back, not that she was sure she actually could. Her chakra was different, and her control wasn't coming to her as easily as it had before.

Sakura bit her lip, extending her senses as much as her new body was able – which wasn't much – to see if anyone was listening. Anyone like Root shinobi. Fortunately for her, there didn't seem to be, but Sakura couldn't be certain. Not with how terrible she was inside her new body. It would take far longer than she'd like to actually get herself to a point where she was happy with. A point where she'd be able to defend her sisters to a satisfactory degree and make no mistake she would. _They were all she had, and she'd defend them to her last breath. She couldn't—wouldn't—lose anyone else. Not that there were many people left to be ripped away from her. _Her torn and broken heart proved that much. Sakura wasn't sure how it was still beating. _It hurt. It hurt so much_. But pain was good. Pain meant that she was alive… meant that she could see her sister's smiling face as they stared at each other in the dilapidated excuse of a shed. "I'm training," she said matter-of-factly, serious black eyes boring into her sibling's matching ones. "I wanna be strong so I can protect you."

Mio tugged at her sleeve. "But it's late, Saku-nee… We need to sleepy… Mum says rest is important too."

"I'll be done in an hour, Mio…" she mumbled, moving into another stance, a strange warmth in her chest as she stared at her sister. It wasn't a lie, in an hour she'd be done with all her physical conditioning, but she'd be working on her chakra after the sun went down. She wasn't used to her new chakra. It was nothing like the cool, earthen-feeling kind she'd had in her last body. The chakra coursing through her right that very minute felt like a firestorm, and she had the distinct impression that if she didn't master it to a satisfactory degree she'd end up getting burnt… in more ways than one.

"You gonna be a shinobi, nee-san?" Mio asked all of a sudden, her black eyes alarmingly sharp for someone her age, not that Sakura could judge.

"Huh? How'd you know 'bout shinobi?" she questioned. Sakura was fairly sure she hadn't even known what shinobi were a few days ago… then again, she had been hanging out with Sasuke and Naruto, so maybe that was the explanation for that.

Mio bounced up and down. "Naru and Sasuke-kun mentioned them, so I asked kaa-chan and she told us all about them. They can walk up walls! I saw some of them too… It was so cool!" she said, practically vibrating in excitement. Sakura, on the other hand, was far more concerned about the kun on the end of Sasuke's name. _She'd have to go and supervise their next outing. _"Being one would be super awesome! Why wouldn't anyone want to?"

Sakura smiled softly, two fingers prodding at her sister's forehead, annoyance at Sasuke forgotten. "Silly imouto… it's a dangerous job. That's why."

"But you gonna do it…" Mio said, biting her lip. "Aren't you?"

Sakura nodded. "That's right."

"Sasuke said he's gonna be shinobi too," she chattered, glancing at Sakura all the while as she went through her exercises. "So I wanna do it too!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, her lips ready to say no – every instinct at her was screaming at her to protect what was hers… to bundle them up in bubble wrap and cotton wool, but she knew better. _She'd seen what had happened to people like that… clueless and innocent… how they'd gotten caught up in the fighting and become casualties to it. She'd seen what'd happened to people like that_She wouldn't always be around to protect her sisters no matter how much she wanted to, especially when she went off to the Academy. They weren't exactly living in the safest area of Konoha either. Her mother had told her stories about the akasen in her last life, and none of them were good. Shady people hung around there, or so she'd been told, and more often than not, the Uchiha Police Force was called in to deal with the more significant cases. The murders, the assaults, and the mysterious disappearances.

The last one worried her the most.

So it was for the best, Sakura decided, that her sisters had a way to defend themselves… just until she could make it back to them to beat the life out of the unfortunate imbecile who dared to lay a hand on her siblings. _She'd be making a statement out of the first idiot who tried. _

"Then you should get stronger," Sakura said, folding her arms.

Mio's eyes seemed to sparkle. "OK."

Sakura stared at her silently for a few minutes, waiting for her sister to say something – anything, but she just stood there staring right back at her with those pleading puppyish eyes all children seemed to have. Eventually she sighed, deciding to throw her sister a bone. "Maybe try running some laps around the garden," she said, uncrossing her arms, sliding back into her katas. "You need good fitness."

::

"Kura-nee?"

Sakura blinked, eyes narrowing on her other triplet, Akira. _First Mio… now Akira… _"Yeah?"

Her sister opened her mouth, spewing out the last words Sakura had been expecting. "I wanna be a shinobi too – if you're doing it."

She resisted the urge to wince, ignoring the frisson of worry that ran down her spine. _It was like they were growing up right before her eyes. _Something told her it was only the beginning of whatever _it_ was, and over the years she'd learnt to listen to those instincts. They'd saved her life on more than one occasion, though they weren't much help for dealing with the tiny pinkette standing in front of her, an implore-ish expression on her face. "You shouldn't do it just because I am," she said, folding her arms as she tried to nail her point into her sister's brain. "You should do something _you _wanna do."

Akira stared at her with those puppy dog eyes. The ones she just had to know Sakura was weak against. "I wanna be with nee-chan. Always."

Red seeped into her cheeks at that statement, and she turned away from her pleading sibling. "Fine. Run some laps with Mio… then I'll teach you some exercises, kay?"

"You're the best!" Akira yelled, bounding over to join the last of their triplet group in her exercises.

::

In all honesty, it likely said something about her life that she was utterly unsurprised at the scene which she was seeing a scant two weeks after Mio had come up to her, and all but begged her to train her. She'd seen the world at its worst. She'd walked through hell and somehow managed to come out the other side. So, she supposed, there wasn't all that much that could surprise her. Her sisters all proclaiming they wanted to follow in her footsteps wasn't that much of a surprise, though it didn't mean her heart hurt any less at the thought. She knew, she'd told herself a thousand times, it'd be better for them to become shinobi. Better for them to become strong… but the thought of them dying _on the frontline, slaughtered like cattle for a madwoman's war… _it made her want to rip something apart, preferably a certain black plant creature. _They'd just have to become stronger. So strong they could tear their enemies apart._

Looking at them now, it was safe to say that was a long way off, but Sakura had time. Lots of it, should things go according to plan. Tsunade had taken her from a weak husk and turned her into a monster who could punch through anything and everything in her path… _except Kaguya… _which meant she'd be able to do the same with her sisters if she had any luck, and she knew she did. She was the sole survivor of her torn dimension, and with that experience came strength and an iron will to boot. Though her sisters might never have that exact same strength of character, they'd at the very least inherit her sheer determination if she had anything to say about it.

Running about the garden, stretching, and doing various exercises were only the beginning of that. Sakura folded her arms, eyeing her siblings as they worked, occasionally moving in to correct their stances whenever she could. She winced whenever they sparred each other. _She didn't want to see them hurt, but it was necessary. _Sparring aside, it was a cute sight, especially with Mio copying her stances occasionally when she thought she wasn't looking. Key word there being _thought. _Sakura was always watching her siblings, and they were utterly adorable. She wouldn't change them for the world. _She didn't have a world to change them for. Hers would be a husk of its former glory, and the only one to bask in it would be the madwoman who'd been the cause of that war. She didn't want that world back. It wouldn't be the same anyway, no matter what she did. Her Naruto, and her Sasuke would never exist anywhere outside her memories ever again. It was just Sakura and her siblings now… _and god help the person who did anything to them.

Sakura would end them in the most painful and creative ways she could think of… whether it be with sharp implements or simply stringing someone up from a tree naked. That made a massive dent in someone's pride. Kakashi-sensei had taught her well in regards to that. That lesson had been drilled in – creativity was key… and far more effective than simply beating someone up. But Sakura couldn't deny the satisfaction she'd get from her fists impacting on the unfortunate sucker who'd had the gall to insult her sisters.

Though, in hindsight, she should've been far more worried about the hell which her own sisters would unleash on Konoha.

Mio was fine – she was practically an angel. It was her other triplet which was the problem child. Akira was the Naruto of the family. _A thought that made her heart pound fiercely. Naruto was gone, but embers of his Will of Fire lived on, and her sister was one of them_. So when she stormed out of the house just after sundown, worry clawing at her chest, stomping furiously towards where her sister's chakra signal was coming from, she was annoyed, and unsurprised oddly enough, to find her in a gambling den.

What surprised her, and shocked her to the core, was who she was winning against – and who kept giving her sister tips on how to gamble better.

Senju Hashirama.


	5. Chapter 5: Akira and Gambling

It was official, Sakura decided as she stared through the window, heart beating furiously as she stared at the figure of the _man who was supposed to be dead. _Naruto and Sasuke were alive. Konoha had been founded years ago, by the very same men as in her original timeline, she'd heard enough conversations around the village to pick up that little tidbit. Senju Hashirama should've been dead and buried in the ground, but instead he was sitting across from her sister looking no older than his early thirties, if that. Her breath came in short pants, an odd wheeze sounding close by, and it didn't take her long to work out that it was coming from her own throat. She was panicking. _Calm down, _she told herself, concentrating on her breathing. So Senju Hashirama was alive. No big deal. No big deal at all. That could only be a good thing. He didn't need to be revived to stop his old friend from his idiocy.

_It also meant the timeline she knew was well and truly bust. She was fighting blind. _The thought had her panicking again, but a sharp slap of her cheeks had her grounding herself again. _She'd been through worse, so she wouldn't panic over a tiny little detail like that. _She just needed to accept the fact and do some damn research to ease her nerves. Throwing herself in a tizzy wouldn't solve anything. She was better than that. _She'd lived through the unknown once before. She could do it again. _Sakura pulled herself from the wall she'd slumped against, pulling herself back up to the window so she could peer through again. She'd been planning on slipping through and grabbing her sister before anyone was any the wiser, but with Senju Hashirama sitting there, her plans would have to change. Mainly because she apparently had her father's hair, and seeing as it was likely Obito, that also meant her hair style had an uncanny resemblance to another Uchiha's made all the more prominent by her hair's length. Not to mention her pale skin… black eyes… if she didn't have pink hair the game would've likely been over before it'd even began. As it was, she'd have to be careful. She couldn't get dragged into the mess that was the Uchiha Clan, especially not before the… Sakura trailed off in her thoughts. _Would the Uchiha Massacre even occur? Especially with Hashirama alive and well…_

Scowling, she tied her hair back, pulling her hair back out of her face so it didn't get in her way before she yanked her hood up, covering her face as best she could in its shade. That was one comparison she didn't need. She could worry about the possible events of the future later. She no longer knew what the future held, only that she needed to be strong to face it. Her last few weeks of training had brought her body up to scratch, but she knew she was barely scraping the surface of what she was capable of, especially with her new body.

_She had the sharingan. That changed everything—_

"Anija!" The shout pierced the stillness of the night, a white-haired figure bursting into the room she was staring at. Three damning red lines marred his face, one on either cheek, and a single one on his chin. It summed up the situation in an instant. Not only was Senju Hashirama alive, but his brother, Tobirama, was too. _Wasn't that just dandy? _

Her self-imposed mission to drag her sister home was becoming more complicated by the minute. She gritted her teeth. _Was it that big of a deal if they were discovered? _Being part of the Uchiha Clan would at least protect them from Danzo and his cronies. _Were they even still a problem with his sensei alive and well? _Biting her lip, she went to make her move, only to pause as another figure entered the room with an achingly familiar face. _Sasuke's. But at the same time it wasn't… _His face was slightly narrower, eyes just a tinsy bit wider, lips a little flatter, but the resemblance was there.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to gamble?" Tobirama huffed, glaring down at his brother in irritation. "Look at how much money you just lost… to a child no less."

Akira pouted.

Sakura bristled.

"Come on," the albino snarled, hauling his reluctant brother to his feet. "We're going home, dammit. I don't need Madara on my arse because of your troublemaking habits. You swore off gambling twenty years ago."

"But Tobi—"

Any protests he had were cut off, and Sakura tuned them out, instead focusing on her sister whom the Sasuke-look-alike was now talking to.

"I think it's time you went home, little one," he said, patting her on the head. _Like a dog. _"Come on. I don't think you'll want to walk back home alone with all that money you've just earned."

"Don't encourage the kid, Izuna," Tobirama hissed, and Sakura felt her annoyance at him diminish ever so slightly. Akira did need to stop before she got any worse. "Besides, it's probably her bedtime already. She can't be any older than four…"

"You were gambling against a four-year-old?" Izuna asked, a look Sakura knew to be incredibly judgemental appearing on his face. She'd used that same expression many a times. "And you lost?"

"What?" The First Hokage threw his hands up in the air. "She's good!"

"She's four!"

"And as wonderful as this argument is going to be," Tobirama began, "I'm afraid to say that Madara is on his way over, so I'd suggest we—"

"HASHIRAMAAAA!"

The voice had Sakura freezing, heart pounding in her ears as her brain finally registered what the white-haired Senju had been saying. Madara was on his way over. Uchiha Madara. Fury burnt through her, closely followed by fear. _He wasn't supposed to be there. He couldn't be there. It was his fault. He'd been manipulated—wait, so maybe it wasn't entirely his fault, but he'd started the damn war. That was one fact that'd never change. He'd killed her friends, hollowed out her heart… _But… she was in a completely different dimension. He wasn't the same as the bastard who'd sliced down the alliance. He just looked… exactly the same. _She hated that she wasn't supposed to hate him. She hated everything his appearance brought rushing back to the forefront of her mind._

He was there in the room _with her sister _and he looked exactly how he had the last time she'd fought against him, well, sans the face on his chest – or so she assumed, because he actually had a shirt on.

"What the hell are you doing in this part of town so late?" Hands fisted in the collar of his shirt, pulling the man down to his level. "More importantly… Dinner was two hours ago… and where the hell were you? Huh?"

"Oh."

"_Is that all you have to say?!"_

"I ran into this adorable child," Hashirama mumbled, yanking Akira in front of him like a shield. "I was just helping her out!"

Sakura clamped down on her killing intent. She was almost radiating it in waves, but that was the last thing she wanted. It would draw too much attention to her. _Who'd ever heard of a four-year-old child emitting killing intent? _Instead, her eyes narrowed, staring at the face of her enemy, mouth dropping open when she spotted the flailing that ensued. She pinched herself, trying to ensure she wasn't daydreaming nor caught up in a weird genjutsu, because Madara – scourge of the Elemental Nations – was now cooing over her sister and attempting to be as nonthreatening as possible. _He definitely wasn't the Madara she'd known… _

A door slammed open next to her, and Sakura stiffened, dropping from her perch at the window and into the bushes with barely a sound.

"That little pink-haired brat took everything…"

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Boss won't be happy."

The sinking feeling in the pit of her gut only grew.

"We'll just have to get it back. The Founders won't be able to protect the brat forever."

Her toes curled. _That was fighting talk. _She bit her lip. _But she wasn't supposed to fight. There were others to do that for her now. _She swallowed, her throat dry. _But who would want to help a girl like her?_

"Come on, let's…" the masculine voice trailed off all of a sudden, and Sakura had a very real sense of foreboding. "Huh… How many pink-haired brats do you think there are?"

"I suppose that makes things simpler."

Sakura stood from the bushes, sighing internally as she prepared to face the men. _She was strong. She didn't need anyone to save her anymore. _Clearly her stealth skills needed some brushing up on if she'd been spotted… but she hadn't. Her eyes narrowed, staring past the group of men, hands curling into fists when she spotted Mio standing in the middle of the alleyway. She'd been followed. Sakura bit back a curse. Clearly it wasn't her stealth skills but her observational skills that needed brushing up on if her four year old sister could trail her without her noticing.

Her gaze flickered about the narrow street, searching for anything that could be of use to her in the fight she knew was about to go down. _She was on her own—sand all around her—Kaguya—no point in screaming for help—there wasn't really anyone left to save her. _She needed to protect Mio. There was no other option. She shook her head. A pile of disused bricks and a rusty old section of pipe looked to be her best options. Scowling, she hurried over, not making a single sound as she hefted a brick into her hand, tilting her head as she measured up its weight. It was definitely heavy enough, and she could manage basic chakra enhancement even with her meagre control. It'd be nothing like on Tsunade's level, but it'd be enough to get her through this fight.

_Well, there was no time like the present, _she mused, cocking her arm back for a calculated swing. _Playtime was over. _A grin curled at her lips, the old thrill of the fight rushing through her as her makeshift weapon sailed straight towards her target. Her hands were already moving of their own accord, grabbing the next ruined brick, throwing it at her next target with a burst of chakra to help it on its way.

_Two down. Three to go._

Her footsteps were inaudible, her killing intent tightly under wraps as she ducked under the arm that'd been aiming for her face. _Amateurs. _She dropkicked the next one right in between the legs, smirking as his face turned a ghastly shade of white.

"You little brat!"

Sakura turned, fist grazing her face as she jerked her head to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch. Her arms and legs were there in seconds, wrapping around the limb like little snakes, applying more and more pressure until she heard the sound of a small crunch and a yelp of pain. The man fell, and Sakura wasted no time in using his head as a springboard, launching herself towards the last man standing. It was rather amusing how she'd taken them down in a matter of minutes, but then again, she did have a whole other life's worth of experience and skill drilled into her bones. The men wouldn't have lasted even a second against her, had she been at full strength… but she wasn't. She was stuck in the body of a titchy little four year old. Grinning, she slammed her fist into the face of the last man standing. Admittedly, she probably ought to have gone for the throat or used her elbow and saved her knuckles the pain of colliding with the man's nose… but the crunch of bone was certainly satisfying… not to mention she needed him conscious too.

She sat on his chest as he lay on the ground, pulling on the collar of his shirt until he was looking her in the eye. Sakura wasn't wearing her smiling face. Sharp black eyes were all she knew he could see, her killing intent focused like a razor blade to the neck. "Come near me or my family again, and you'll find yourself in this situation again… only next time _your head won't be intact._" She smiled brightly, finally looking something like the child she was supposed to be, aside from the blood on her face and the sickening sweet tone to her voice. "Understand?"

The man nodded jerkily, and she wasted no time in climbing off him, freezing as she felt the eyes drilling into the back of her head. A headful of moderately spiky pink hair slammed into her chest, small arms wrapping around her, her sister's form trembling and Sakura had the sudden urge to go and beat up all the five idiots sprawled over the ground again.

"Saku-nee? Mio-nee?"

Sakura had another sense of foreboding. If Akira was there, then she didn't need three guesses as to whose eyes were burning into the back. Never had she ever been more grateful the fighting hadn't dislodged her hood from where it was – safely pulled over her head. _Oops. _Well, there went her anonymity. _Well, at least it might be noticed if she mysteriously vanished… _It wasn't like she'd expected to blend in. _Besides, she was meant to be strong for her sisters. They needed to know they could rely on her. What better way to show them her strength or get noted down as a potential academy student if seen?_

Footsteps echoed off the walls, and then there was another bundle of pink hair attached to her side. "Mio, what's wrong?" Akira lifted her head, staring intently at their shaking sister. "What's the matter?"

Sakura shook her head, finger moving almost on instinct as they prodded her sister smack bang in the centre of her forehead. "Idiot," she mumbled with no real bite to the word. "Your actions have consequences. Those were the men you just gambled against."

Akira blinked, rubbing at her forehead. "What?"

"They wanted to get their money back from you, sis," she said, prodding at her forehead again. "They saw Mio and knew she was related to you," Sakura continued, ignoring the lip that curled and the eyes which filled with tears.

"My fault?"

Sakura sighed. "Not entirely, Mio followed me, and it was her decision to. Now hurry up and get back home," she grumbled, folding her arms. "It's already dark."

A hand on her collar stopped her in her tracks, and she stiffened, turning to face the man stopping her from following after her sisters. She scowled, eyeing up the shock of white hair and the red eyes that gazed at her curiously.

"How old are you?"

There was no point in avoiding the question. "Four."

"Nearly five," Akira chimed in, leaning over her shoulder, recovering some of the bounce in her step. "We're triplets."

Tobirama tilted his head, staring down at her with those analytical eyes. He nodded to himself, apparently finding whatever it was he'd been looking for, before rustling around in his little pouch of supplies. A brown envelope appeared in a puff of smoke, and Sakura's eyes narrowed even further, ignoring the poignant cough from behind the man.

"_Seriously?_" That familiar _daunting _voice rang out. "A toddler beats up a bunch of grownups, and your first reaction is to hand her an academy admission form? _What the hell is wrong with you, Senju?"_

_So that's what it was… _She took the envelope, blinking as she was lifted off the ground, looking around only to find her sisters in similar situations. _Apparently they were being given a lift home… though Sakura made sure they were dropped off at the end of their street. She didn't need them to know where she lived._

She grabbed each of her sisters by the hand, pulling them towards the safety of the back entrance to their home, ignoring Izuna's soft exclamation behind them.

"I guess pink hair is becoming a lot more common around these parts then…"


	6. Chapter 6: Home and Heart

_Pink hair was becoming more common. _

She bit her lip, staring at her long pink hair reflected back at her from the mirror, her narrower black eyes peering back at her instead of green.

The knife in her hands was blunt, its edge dulled from years of use in the kitchen, but it'd serve its purpose. Sakura swallowed, fingers curling around the handle, teeth biting down on her lip as she brought it up to the back of her neck – where she held her hair, ready to cut it off. _Uchiha Madara was alive, her hair had the same unfortunate style, and her face looked too much like an Uchiha's. _If she cut off her hair, she wouldn't have as many problems, _would she? _

_"Your hair is shinier than mine… If you have time to take care of your hair, then you should practice." _Kin's voice echoed through her ears. _"I hate girls like you the most." _

Sakura scowled. Even now she could still feel the pain from Kin's grip. The memory was burned into her brain. That was the moment she'd realised it completely. _How much of a deadweight she really was to Team Seven. _She clenched the handle of the knife, hand shaking as she tried to summon the courage, the will, to slice off all her hair again. _But she'd made that vow before, cut her hair before, and she'd still been utterly powerless against Kaguya. _Short hair only reminded her of her failures… but long hair was also a weakness.

She grimaced, annoyance making her cast the knife aside as she stood in the bathroom, staring at her reflection. To have long hair as a shinobi either meant one was an idiot, or a rather skilled shinobi. _She was going to belong to the latter category. _She fumbled for a hair tie, grabbing handfuls of her hair, braiding it in a style Ino had taught her so long ago, hiding as much of the spikiness as possible. _She was going to be stronger than ever. _Her eyes bled red, three tomoe spinning in each eye. _She wasn't a first-generation shinobi from some nameless civilian family. She was an Uchiha, even if the rest of the clan didn't know about her existence. _Satisfied, she walked back to her shared bedroom, red fading back to black, having made her little vow.

_No one would touch her hair again._

Pushing Akira's outstretched limbs away, she crawled into her bed, smiling softly when her straight-haired sibling attached herself to her chest like a limpet, chasing all the bad thoughts away. _All her sisters really were adorable._

::

"What do you want to do today, sweetie?" The soft melodic voice stirred Sakura out of her thoughts, her body flinching slightly as a hand mused its way into her hair. It was slightly uncomfortable at first. No one had petted her hair in ages. She'd barely seen her parents after the war had started, and even before she'd shied away from their affections. That was something she'd regret until the end of days, so rather than moving away from Misa's touch, she fell into it. She pressed her head against her mother's chest, feeling the heartbeat under her skin. _Alive. She was alive. _"You've been such a good girl as of late… always looking out for your sisters." A wry smile pulled at her lips. "Don't think I haven't seen you, missy. You always go along with whatever they want… so I think it's time you chose for once."

"Yeah! Nee-chan should choose!" Akira sat up, black eyes sparkling as she stared at her _like she deserved to be idolised._

Sakura blinked, heart fluttering in her chest as she stared into those green eyes. _Like the ones she used to have. _"Um…" She stumbled over her words, flushing under her mother's undivided attention. _She didn't really know what she wanted. All that mattered was protecting her siblings and ensuring their happiness. She didn't need to be happy too. She simply never wanted to be lonely again. They all just needed to be alive. She was OK that way. That was her little slice of happiness, wasn't it? _"I—I, uh, don't know."

"We can go to the park… or maybe we can stay indoors… it's all up to you," she said, fingers running through her fluffy pink locks.

"Then, can we go to the park?" she asked, having seen Mio's eyes light up at the mention of the park. As much as she loathed to admit it, Mio liked Sasuke. They'd become fast friends over the first three times they'd met, with Sasuke turning tomato red each time Mio held his hand to drag him somewhere. _Sakura wasn't jealous of him. Not in the slightest._

"Sure thing, sweetie," Misa said, shifting Sakura off her lap as she stood, gracefully as ever. "Let's go put those shoes and coats on. It rained last night, and I don't want you all getting too dirty, OK?"

"Of course," Sakura said, nodding as she hurried over to the doorway, fully aware of the thunder of feet trailing after her.

"We're going to the park again!" Seiren leapt into the air, practically vibrating with excitement as Sakura pulled out all their assigned coats and shoes from the little box they kept their outwear in. They didn't have the luxury of that much space.

Sora, her twin, rolled her eyes, snatching her own sandals out of Sakura's grasp. "Bet you I can swing higher this time," she muttered, earning a cry of protest from Seiren.

A familiar face popped around the doorframe, a wide smile on Tomoe's face as she stared around at the group of them amassed by the doorway. "Are we taking the kiddies out again?"

"You're free?" Misa glanced up, smiling softly at her friend.

"Yep… So I thought I'd come and entertain your kids for a bit, but it seems you're taking them out. You don't mind one more tagging along, do you?" she asked, and Sakura could feel her eyes on each and every one of them as she finished putting on her own footwear before she began helping her younger sisters.

Misa chuckled. _Sakura liked that sound. She wanted to hear it more often. _"You're always welcome, Tomoe."

A toothy grin appeared on her face, mischief twinkling in her eyes as she went and scooped up Tora under one arm with Ran in place under the other one. Sakura glanced over, smiling slightly at the high tinkering laughter she could hear. _How she'd missed that sound… She sucked at getting her sisters to laugh. _Turning back to the last of the other set of triplets that wasn't tucked under the arm of the lady they called aunt, she finished helping Yumi with her coat and sandals, standing back so she could survey her work. All of her sisters were bundled up neatly. _They wouldn't be getting sick. Not if Sakura had any say in the matter._

"Come on!" Akira bounced up and down, growing more impatient by the second. "I wanna tell Naru all about how cool nee-chan was last night!"

Misa's head snapped around so fast, Sakura was surprised nothing broke. "Last night?" Her eyes narrowed, and Sakura shrunk in on herself. _She knew that look. Mebuki had worn it many a times before she went into mothering mode. _"What happened last night?"

"Oh, uh, well… I went out late last night," Akira mumbled, scratching the back of her head.

Mio stepped forwards. "She went out gambling, kaa-chan."

Akira wore a look of utter betrayal. "Mio-nee! That was supposed to be our secret."

Misa wore the look that Sakura knew meant they'd be talking about this in detail later. Even Tomoe didn't look impressed. "We'll talk about your gambling habits later, Aki-chan," she said, glancing at Mio. "Continue."

"Well… Sakura-nee came to get me, and Mio-nee followed her, and then these guys tried to jump Mio-nee to make me give the money I won back to them, but Sakura was there and she totally beat them up." Akira rocked back and forwards on her toes. "It was super awesome! Then this white-haired guy gave Saku-nee an envelope… something about an Academy thingy…"

Sakura could feel the incredulous stare sent her way.

"Right," their mother mumbled. "Then before we go out, can I see that envelope, Sakura, dear?" she asked, holding out her hands for Sakura's prize. "I won't take it away, sweetie, I just want to see what that man gave you, OK?"

She pouted, begrudgingly fishing through her pockets and holding out the slightly crumpled brown envelope.

Misa pulled out what Sakura knew to be the forms she'd need to enter the academy. There'd been no real point for her to check through them. A single glance had been all she'd needed to confirm their validity. She'd seen them before, back when she'd been a naïve little girl wanting to chase after Ino. Her shoulders slumped. _Her Ino was gone, never to return. Sacrificed to buy them time to escape, all done with a smile on her pretty pink lips._

"Do you want to attend the Academy then?" her mother asked, a soft smile on her face despite the apprehension in her eyes. _She was taking it better than her last mother, anyway. Mebuki had straight up denied her the first time she asked… and she'd been a little older too. _Academy applications were open to those aged five years and older, but most didn't start until they were six or seven like she had the last time around. This time though, there was no point in waiting around. She had sisters she needed to take care of, which meant she needed to ideally start earning an income as soon as possible. So she nodded at her mother's question when she asked it, not trusting herself to say the words without stuttering them out. "It says here that the admission tests are five months from now. Do you want me to help you study?"

"Kaa-chan, will you help us too?" Mio peered up at her, hand finding its way into their mother's as she used those puppy-dog eyes. "We want to stay with nee-chan, so we're gonna go to the Academy too."

Misa smiled tentatively. "Sure thing, sweetheart," she said, setting the academy forms down on the table. "It's good that you're already thinking about your futures, but I think for now it's time we got to the park."

Akira grinned. "Let's go!" she yelled, charging down and out the back entrance.

Sakura chased after her, knowing better than to leave her unattended. She'd went to a gambling den the last time around, and that had been stressful enough as it was.

"Calm down you two," Tomoe called behind them, leading her two youngest siblings down. "We don't need any more unsupervised trips to gambling dens."

Akira tilted her head. "Does that mean I can go again if I bring you along then?"

Tomoe snorted, shaking her head. "Don't go getting smart on me, missy," she said. "You aren't being allowed a foot near another one of those places until you turn twenty, you hear me?"

"Yes, oba-san," Akira grumbled, pouting until Sakura grabbed her hand and dragged her along.

Sakura turned her stare on her sister. "Go gambling again, and I'll be much less gentle in dragging you back next time," she said with a smile. "You've been warned."

Akira shuddered. "Of course, nee-chan."

Her grip on her hand tightened, a smile breaking on her lips as she stared around the streets as she walked towards the park. _They were familiar streets. Streets she'd missed. Konoha had been rubble and dust when she'd last walked through it, and even then she and Obito hadn't stayed long. Kaguya had liked to visit it far too often. _Sakura repressed the shudder that came with that thought. There was no three-eyed woman around to ambush her. She was safe. Well, safe from Kaguya, at least. Other dangers still lingered, familiar ones. Ones she hadn't even known existed at the time thanks to her naivety. _She hated her past self. Maybe it was a good thing she looked nothing like she'd used to. _

Street turned to grass and rubbery mats, the park having crept up on her whilst she'd been busy with her thoughts. _The park creeping up on her… Now there was a funny thought. Trees didn't generally move, unless one was the First Hokage. _Sakura blinked, reminding herself that one Senju Hashirama was still indeed alive and kicking. _It wasn't her old world. But, like her new body, maybe it was a good thing._

Sakura blinked again, staring around the park. It looked strangely familiar. _Where she'd first met Ino… where she'd taught Sakura how to make flower crowns… Ino would never do that again. Her Ino wouldn't, and Sakura didn't need another Ino. She was strong enough on her own._

Though speaking of Ino… Her gaze turned onto the blonde head of hair she could see. It wasn't Naruto's yellow, more of a pale straw. Ino's colour. Her hands fisted in her coat, the dreary clouded sky above her doing nothing to quell the fear rising in her gut. _She wasn't ready. She couldn't do it. How was she supposed to make friends with Ino this time around? Ino hadn't really been outright friendly to many others before she'd taken her under her wing. She'd been oddly standoffish, especially to the confident girls… and Sakura didn't want that to happen to her. She'd rather keep her distance than have Ino – any version of Ino – hate her on principle._

"Nee-chan!" Akira plastered herself to her side. "Can we make flower crowns…? Like those three girls over there are doing?"

She glanced over at where Akira was pointing, a soft smile pulling at her face when she saw Ino making flower crowns with two other girls. One had a headful of short bluish locks. Hinata. _She was probably Sakura's replace—_

Sakura froze, eyes widening when she saw the last girl sitting at Ino's side.

She had pink hair.

_Pink hair._

The girl turned her head.

_A familiar head._

Jade green eyes stared at Ino.

_Sakura knew those eyes._

Her body felt light all of a sudden, and distantly she could hear Mio coming over and asking what was wrong. Sakura didn't have an answer. _How could she? She was meant to be Haruno Sakura… and yet Haruno Sakura was sitting across the park from her, making a flower crown with Ino. _She stumbled back towards her sisters, one hand squeezing at Akira's own. _She needed that sense of familiarity. Needed to know she existed… She wasn't Haruno Sakura. If she was, she'd be in that body. The frail one with doe-like green eyes. She wouldn't have her sisters… _Part of her burnt at that thought. Her sisters were everything she had. _No one could take them away from her. Never._

Still, some small part of her whispered in her head, asking the question hidden deep inside her mind. _Was she no longer worthy of being Haruno Sakura?_

_She wasn't, was she?_

_Her hands were probably too bloody for that._


	7. Chapter 7: Uchihas Uchihas Everywhere

Wind rustled through her hair, pulling at the hood she had concealing her face. The last thing Sakura wanted to be linked to the Uchiha Clan. Her sisters, though, apparently had other plans entirely, hence why they were in a play area full of Uchiha children. They were running about the park, playing a game of tag with Naruto and Sasuke, which Sakura was letting them win. She could tag any of them with an alarming amount of ease, but then again she hadn't exactly been taking it easy on her body for the past… months. _It had been months since she'd landed in a past that wasn't hers, and she was adapting. _She hadn't wasted a single minute of it – from keeping her sisters from walking off with any strangers, to press-ups and katas in the overgrown swamp of a garden. _She'd be ready for anything. _The little amount of muscle she'd managed to build was proof of that much. She'd be stronger than before. Far stronger. In fact, she was fairly sure she'd be able to beat her twelve-year-old genin self, but then again that didn't say much. _She'd been pathetically weak… always crying out for precious Sasuke-kun… but she wasn't Haruno Sakura anymore. She was Sakura. Just Sakura. The existence of that pink-haired green-eyed girl who'd been sitting with Ino was proof of that much, no matter how much it stung. She'd seen her old mother—no Mebuki. Haruno Mebuki. That was all she was to Sakura now. She wasn't her mother. Sakura had Misa. She loved Misa. Her new mother was far cooler. She didn't need her old one… the old one who'd given affection to some sort of interloper. _Sakura bit her lip. _No. She was the interloper. She was the one who wasn't supposed to exist. _Her eyes narrowed, hand slapping down on Sasuke's back as if to drive off her feelings. "Tag!" she hissed, darting away before he could retaliate.

"Dammit, Sakura!" he snarled, charging after her in seconds, changing course to Naruto when he realised she wasn't about to let him catch her. He wasn't going to tag his precious Mio, that Sakura knew. She shuddered at the thought. _Baby Sasuke liked her sister. He actually liked her, and it was adorably cute… even if it set her overprotective sisterly instincts wild. Yet another reason to avoid the Uchiha whenever possible. Mio wouldn't let her ignore them period, even if she'd wanted to. Still, Sasuke would rue the day he hurt Mio's feelings, accidental or not. _

"Ha! Sucker!" she yelled back, ducking into the bushes, smirking as she heard Naruto's complaints as Sasuke slapped his shoulder, making short work of his blonde best friend.

Naruto's lips soon quirked up in a smile, and Sakura knew exactly who he was going to target. His next words only confirmed her thoughts, as well as bringing a small smile to her own lips. _Naruto's cheerfulness had always been infectious. _"I'm coming for you, Aki-chan!"

Akira shrieked, running away from him as he sprinted towards her. Inwardly Sakura preened, having ensured her sisters had improved their sprinting and running capabilities. She'd done that… brought them up from a pathetic jog they called running. That had been one of the first things she'd done – taught them how to run away. She'd drilled that lesson into their heads what must have been a thousand times.

_"If you know the enemy is too strong, then you have to run away."_

Sakura grinned, shaking off the memory, hurrying into the treeline and hiding there. The youngest of their triplet group would target either her or Mio once she was _it_, and she wasn't about to let herself get tagged again anytime soon. Instead, she busied herself looking around at the group of four in front of her, smiling softly at their shrieks and laughter. They were running around, playing like the children they were, as it was supposed to be. _She wasn't a child anymore. She'd lost the right to call herself that once she'd graduated. _It didn't matter if she wasn't in that particular life, or that particular body, anymore. She had the memories. She could recall the taste of blood on her lips, the scent of dead, decaying bodies. She saw them every night she fell asleep, and it was only the soothing warmth of her sisters that kept everything at bay. _Well, the screams at least. _She couldn't afford to traumatise her sisters, or let her mother know she was something of a troubled child. Misa didn't need that to deal with on top of caring for nine other children. She was busy enough as it was… _besides, it wasn't like it was that important. Sakura could survive. She'd done it for years._

"Nee-chan?" Akira paused in the middle of the game, having taken a note of her absence. "Where'd you—?" A loud growl cut her off, and her cheeks turned an alarming shade of red as Naruto sniggered and Sasuke grinned.

"Lunchtime?" Naruto asked, glancing over at Sasuke.

"We should wait for Saku-nee," Mio said, glancing around the park, searching for her.

"Hn." Sasuke pouted. "If we have to."

Sakura appeared next to them, arms around Sasuke's and her sister's shoulders. "I'm here," she said, smiling at her old friend's startled expression.

"That was mean, Saku-nee," Mio mumbled. "Sasuke-kun was kind enough to make lunch for all of us. Be nice."

"Hn." Sakura grunted.

Naruto blinked. "You…" He pointed at her. "You just made a Sasuke noise!"

"Hn," Sasuke muttered, nodding in agreement.

Her eye twitched. The evidence was lining up, and it was all undeniable. She was an Uchiha, and not through marriage like she'd once dreamt. _What would she be inheriting next from her Uchiha side? From Obito? The sticks permanently lodged up their backsides? A desire to scoff at people? The urge to sneer at everyone?_

Akira's stomach growled again, breaking the odd silence which had fallen, and then Sasuke was unfurling a picnic blanket he'd brought along with him. Though it was more like what _the random Uchiha who was babysitting a load of clan kids in the park _had brought. They'd been the one to carry Sasuke's homemade bento to the park where they'd all agreed to meet up. It was becoming a regular thing, and Sakura was enjoying meeting up with her old friends… even if they both seemed a little too interested in her siblings for her taste. That fact didn't really matter thought. They were both too terrified of her to try anything she didn't think appropriate. Heck, she glared at Sasuke just for trying to hold Mio's hand whenever he tried to lead them somewhere. _They were hers. Her siblings. She'd protect them until the end of time._

"Let's eat already!" Naruto grumbled, eyeing the gigantic bento Sasuke was opening, licking his lips in anticipation.

Not that Sakura could blame him. Mikoto was an excellent cook, and she'd definitely had a hand in making the lunch in front of them.

Five pairs of chopsticks were passed around, each bento layer lying in the middle of the small circle they'd formed, Sakura having wedged herself between her sisters. It was just her and her two sisters in that park, Tomoe and their mother having taken her other siblings elsewhere. They were almost five, and that was usually the time when parents started letting their children loose on the world. It helped that Sakura was far more than the average four-year-old, so Tomoe and Misa had no qualms about letting them make their own way back – just so long as it was before the sun had set. The akasen was far more lively, and far more dangerous at night. Akira had already proven that much with her little stunt.

"Teme… how much does your mum think we can eat?" Naruto asked, staring at the sheer amount of food in front of him. Coming from _Naruto_, that was saying something indeed, and silently Sakura agreed. It wasn't a picnic for five children.

"Okaa-san knew I'd be joining you for lunch so she packed extra, Naruto-kun." The voice came from behind her, and she stiffened, just about registering the four chakra signatures behind her. Her sensing was still horribly abysmal, and she needed to use her chakra to do it half the time. She was anything but a budding sensor. "Why do you think there are extra chopsticks?"

Sasuke leapt to his feet. "Nii-san!"

"Otouto," Itachi murmured, smiling as Sasuke threw himself towards him, tackling him in a hug. "I haven't met your new friends yet… why don't you introduce me?"

"And me too, Sasu-chan." Shisui leant over Itachi's shoulder in all his thirteen-year-old glory. "I was shocked to hear you'd branched out from Naru-chan… and hearing all about your precious Mio-chan—"

Sasuke hissed, lunging at the older boy.

Shisui chuckled, dodging all of Sasuke's attacks with the ease and grace of an accomplished shinobi.

"Sasuke."

Her old best friend froze at the sound of his name on his brother's lips.

"Introduce us to your friends, and then we'll eat… otherwise I have a horrible feeling Naruto-kun might start without us," Itachi said, casting an amused glance over at the blonde who'd frozen – sushi halfway to his mouth. Sakura couldn't blame him. If she had to wait a few more minutes, she'd probably be doing the same. She wasn't quite at the stomach-growling stage, but she was close, and she didn't want the embarrassment of everyone hearing the sound of her stomach. Sasuke would no doubt take the opportunity to say something derisive, and Sakura didn't particularly want to have to tackle him into the sandpit again… no matter how satisfying it had been the first time around.

Sasuke pouted, wandering back over to their little circle. "She's Akira," he said, pointing at her straight-haired sister. "This is Mio," he mumbled with a blush, gesturing at her slightly spiky-haired sibling before his voice hardened and he glared at her. "The annoying one is Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I am _not _annoying, idiot. You just can't handle my awesomeness," she muttered under her breath, but Sasuke still heard and shot a glare her way. Of course, if Sasuke heard, then it meant everyone else had as well, so the sudden movement of Shisui's chakra signal didn't come as much of a surprise to her. She'd even go as far as to say she'd been expecting it.

Black eyes met her matching ones almost instantly, Shisui suddenly sitting next to her on the picnic blanket, a grin curling on his lips at her lack of reaction. "I think I'm going to like you, Saku-chan."

"Forgive me if I'm wholly unsure whether I'll return the sentiment," she said, turning her attention back to the food, just in time to see Akira and Naruto swipe a piece each.

Shisui blinked, hand moving to play with a single pink lock which had escaped her hood. Sakura narrowed her eyes, debating whether it'd be best to flick him off or not. _He could easily knock back her hood… but a scuffle could do that anyway… _He was no doubt analysing her and all her un-four-year-old-ish mannerisms. She sucked at blending in. That was for sure.

"Who're the other two in the bushes?" she asked, impatient to start scarfing food down. _She was hungry, dammit._

"Oh!"

The voice was oddly familiar, and Sakura had the vague sense that she'd heard it somewhere before.

"It's the baby pink-haired Hashirama and co."

Sakura twitched. _It was Izuna. Another fricking Uchiha. _Her day couldn't really get any worse. She was surrounded by too many Uchiha as it was.

"Izuna. Stop spouting nonsense like that."

Sakura twitched violently.

Evidently the universe just loved proving her wrong, so she wasn't going to say her day couldn't get any worse. Knowing her luck the village would explode if she thought something along those lines, since that was the only real way she imagined the situation getting any worse – the situation being stuck in a park with Uchiha children, along with Uchiha _fricking_ Madara and his brother Izuna… who was lifting Mio off the ground and gushing about her hairstyle.

_Of course that day just had to be the day Mio had her hair fastened in a low ponytail at the base of her neck… how typical…_

"Look, nii-san!" Izuna grinned, holding her sister up like a prize. "I've found another miniature version of me."

Never had Sakura been more grateful Mio took after their mother in everything aside from hairstyle. Akira was lucky in that respect too. She was practically a miniature version of their mother only with black eyes instead of green. Though it seemed her mother had a hairstyle similar to that of Hashirama's… but then again, long hair was fairly common, especially among civilian women. Neither of them had too many of the fine, aristocratic features that graced the faces of the Uchiha, unlike her, which meant that hiding their origins was that much easier.

Madara stared at him flatly. "She has pink hair."

"But look at the style of it…"

Sakura sighed, deciding not to bother waiting for anyone else as she swiped some sushi for herself before eyeing up all the other compartments and what they held as her stomach stopped trying to eat itself.

"Good idea, Saku-chan," Shisui said, joining her as she began eating. "More for us."

"You actually might have a point this time, Shisui," Itachi murmured, digging into to the food his mother had prepared, ignoring the shocked look Sasuke sent his way.

"Hey!" Izuna grumbled, hurrying back to their picnic. "Don't start eating without us!"

And that was how Sakura found herself eating in the park with her sisters, friends, their brothers, and two of the most influential figures in history. It was oddly surreal. If anyone had ever told her before her little dimensional trip that she'd end up sharing a bento with Uchiha Madara she'd have been liable to stab them… with a blunt and rusty kunai to make their pain last as long as possible.

"Nii-san." Sasuke pulled on his brother's sleeve, watching as the two older Uchiha brothers argued over food. "Why are Izuna-sama and Madara-sama here?" He hid behind his brother as best as he could, and Sakura _did not _think her old best friend looked ridiculously cute.

Itachi smiled. "Izuna-sensei was in charge of the advanced class today. Madara-sama had some business with his brother, and when I wanted to come and see you for lunch they decided to come along."

"Do you have to go back?" Sasuke moaned, tightening his grasp on Itachi's sleeve. "You can stay with me and Mio-chan for the rest of the day, can't you?"

"Teme! Don't forget about me and Akira."

Sakura felt herself twitch and was fairly sure it was going to become permanent some point in the near future, if only because the universe enjoyed throwing her into ridiculously crazy situations. "Or me," she muttered, scowling as Shisui patted her head.

"There, there, Saku-chan… Sasu-chan ignores me all the time."

She quirked her eyebrow. "I'm starting to think there's a reason for that."

Shisui blinked. "Did you just sass me?" he asked, tilting his head as he stared at her. "Oh my god, you totally just sassed me… Itachi… I found a tinier version of you, and she's pink and so much cuter…"

"Nii-san is cuter." Sasuke folded his arms.

Itachi looked oddly flustered _for an Uchiha that was._

"No." Akira shook her head, pointing at Sakura. "Nee-chan is cuter."

"Well… Nii-san can fight better than that pink monstrosity!" Sasuke declared, glaring intently at Akira as he clung to his older brother.

"Saku-nee can fight too!" Akira yelled. "She's awesome."

"Nii-san—"

A poke to the forehead cut him off. "Otouto, there's no need to argue over something like this… Shisui is just an idiot."

Akira stared at the ground, her voice a quiet mutter when she spoke. "Nee-chan gives better forehead pokes."

Sasuke whirled on her. "Only nii-san can poke foreheads. Sakura can't copy him!"

"Nu uh!" Akira stood, folding her arms. "Saku-nee has been poking our forehead even _before _we met you. Nee-chan ain't no copycat!"

"Are they really arguing about forehead pokes?" Izuna asked, staring incredulously between the pair. "Seriously? Is that really something to argue over?"

Sakura sighed, resting her head on her hand. "Didn't you know? Forehead pokes are all the rage these days."

Shisui snickered.

"Apparently so," Madara murmured.

"Nii-san…" Izuna turned to his brother, one eye fixed on Sakura as she sat there. "I'm calling it now… she has a baby pink-haired Hashirama, and a baby pink-haired me for siblings…"

Madara rolled his eyes.

"I'm so calling it," he said, turning the full weight of his stare onto her. "She's a baby pink-haired Tobirama. She has to be."


	8. Chapter 8: In Five Months

Sakura sighed, silently wishing she could sink into the ground and vanish. They were at the park again, and Sakura was bored out of her mind with neither Naruto or Sasuke in sight. Children's games were for children, even if some of them were designed with training in mind. Even if she was somewhat content with her current life, she needed some excitement every now and then. Something to throw herself into, heart and soul, just to forget about the memories that haunted her. _She wanted friends who could keep up with her… who could keep pace with the current her, challenge her. Though she doubted anyone her age would be able to do just that. Not even the rumours of the newest Uchiha genius around her and Sasuke's age could bring her out of the slump she'd fallen into. They might have skill, but barely anyone her age would have experience on top of that. _She liked the peace she had, but the monster inside her wanted to be let out… the voice reminding her that her happiness wouldn't last. She was always in danger. Cursed. Hated by fate. Everyone she'd loved last time was dead and buried, and their ghosts haunted her in her dreams. _She needed to keep her guard up,_ the voice whispered the same thing to her in the depths of her mind. _The beast caged inside her demanded to be released… kept her on edge wherever she went, and every night of missed sleep made the howling that much worse, the whispering always getting louder, telling her she needed to defeat her enemies… permanently. _And it was for that purpose she wanted to train herself to exhaustion, and hopefully collapse into a somewhat dreamless sleep. _She was tired of seeing blood every time she closed her eyes. Though she knew all too soon her hands would be coated in the real stuff again._

"What's wrong, Saku-nee?" Mio stared down at her, curiosity written across her face as they milled about the park, wind rustling in the hair – or hoods, in Sakura's case. "You've got the sulky face on."

Sakura twitched. She was totally not sulking. She was above such childishness. "Do not."

Akira stuck out her tongue. "Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do. Not."

"Do! Too!"

"Do too."

"DO NOT—dammit nee-chan!"

She smirked.

"I have to agree with Aki, Saku-nee," Mio said, smiling brightly. "You've got the sulky face on."

Sighing, she edged closer to them, until they were well within poking distance. "You're both idiots," Sakura grumbled, poking their foreheads before they could back away, smirking at their twin cries of outrage. "But you're _my _idiots."

Akira huffed, and then Sakura found herself trapped underneath two warm bodies as they tackled her into a hug. "We love you, Saku-nee. Don't be sad."

"I'm not sad," she grumbled, knowing she'd be ignored.

"Oooo," Sora's voice echoed over the two heartbeats she could hear. "Are we having a group hug?"

"I think we are, twin," Seiren muttered, not arguing with her sister for once, and Sakura soon found herself crushed under the weight of two more small bodies.

She grinned, enjoying the warmth for a few seconds, before substituting out with a log and vanishing to her sisters' eyes with a puff of smoke. Love her sisters, she might, but she didn't intend to get squished under all their weight. _She couldn't protect them like that._

"Hmm…"

Sakura tensed, fist lashing out towards the owner of that annoying voice which'd been bothering her for weeks ever since the disastrous picnic. Not that it'd been much of a disaster, aside from being stuck in close proximity to one Uchiha Madara. Izuna was actually alright, once he'd gotten past his fixation on her sisters' resemblances to him and his friends, and by alright, she meant she'd be perfectly fine, so long as nobody yanked down her hood in full view of him. Dye her hair black, and there'd be no mistaking the Uchiha in her, though Sakura doubted she'd ever get the urge to dye her hair that colour. That'd just be asking for trouble, and she wanted to stay as far away from that as possible until her sisters were ready to defend themselves.

"Mou… so mean, Saku-chan," Shisui mumbled, pouting from his position on the underside of the tree branch above her before flipping down to land next to her. He'd developed an alarming habit of popping up to check on the miniaturised pink version of his dear friend. "And here I was… going out of my way to teach you something interesting…"

She folded her arms. "And what might that be?" she asked, staring out at her sisters all the while, concealing the excitement she felt bubbling to the surface at the thought of a fight. She felt rusty, despite her training. Sparring matches weren't exactly easy to participate in, especially when she wasn't able to go all-out. Training with her new sharingan wasn't exactly easy thanks to two nosey Uchiha, along with pretty much everyone else in the village, thought it was mainly those two she worried about. If they caught even a hint of red then it'd be game over, both for her and her siblings.

"Kunai and shuriken… and if you manage to hit the target on the first go then I might just show you my signature move." He folded his arms, a smirk on his lips. "But that's a pretty big if."

"I'm supposed to be looking after my sisters today," Sakura said, staring up at him blankly. "I can't babysit you too."

Shisui chuckled. "Sasu-chan and 'tachi are at the training grounds over in the Uchiha District… Mio-chan would probably like to see her precious Sasuke-chan, wouldn't she?" He tilted his head. "You'd be able to look after your siblings, annoy Sasuke, and get some exercise at the same time… sounds like a great combo to me."

Sakura blinked, shoulders sinking. Shisui wasn't going to take no for an answer. She knew it. He knew it… which meant there was only one possible answer to his suggestion. "Sounds like a plan."

"Knew you'd see it my way, Saku-chan," he purred, placing both elbows on her head as he leaned on her. It was an annoying habit of his, especially since she wasn't that tall – yet. She'd be tall. She knew it deep down. No more shortness for her. "Now… let's go and pick up those wonderful siblings of yours…"

She rolled her eyes, following him as he walked over to her siblings. _Brilliant. _She was going to the last place in Konoha she wanted to be. A den full of Uchiha. Her shoulders slumped further, ignoring the small warmth building in her chest. She only hoped Izuna was elsewhere. He always got far too excitable when he saw 'baby Hashirama and co.'

::

Sounds of metal thunking against wood were music to her ears.

She was rusty when it came to kunai and shuriken, but she'd expected that. Her evening training and the likes hadn't included too much weaponry, since it wasn't something she had to hand. They were expensive, and Sakura had expected to be lumped with a basic academy set when she began there in a matter of months.

Still, she hit the target on the first go, even if it was on the outermost ring and practically a miss in a real battle, so no matter how much Shisui complained he still showed her his shunshin.

It took her nearly a week to get the basics of it down. _A week too long. _Sakura scowled, even after all the praise Shisui had showered down on her. She'd known it before, but then her chakra control had been shot to hell thanks to an idiotic Uchiha – and not the one who liked to sneak up on her and call her a baby pink-haired Itachi.

Shuriken were no better, her fingers getting cuts all over them, but then again, Shisui hadn't really started her on the traditional blunted set. It was more like, _'here's some random ones from around the Uchiha Compound which should be about your size'_. Then again, it only proved he didn't see her as some clueless child… not that she'd ever really tried to hide that fact. The only thing she'd successfully hidden were her spiky pink locks.

"You're doing awesome, nee-chan," Akira gushed, staring over at the few kunai embedded in the target she was using. "See, Sasuke? Sakura's awesome, and there's nothin' you can do about it." She smirked, folding her arms, pointedly staring at Sasuke's target and the scant number of kunai which had hit the outer ring.

Sasuke scoffed. "Nii-san is still better."

"Hn." Akira turned her head, and Sakura's eye twitched. Hanging around too many Uchiha was starting to come back and bite both her and her siblings in the backside. Uchiha seemed to have a natural predisposition for hn-ing. Didn't help keep their half-Uchiha-ness under wraps, and Sakura was just dreading the day someone put two and two together. No secret could be kept forever. Not in a village like Konoha. The truth always came out. It was just a question of how many years before someone would discover all the skeletons in her closet.

"Teme! Your hn-ing is rubbing off on them, dammit," Naruto grumbled, pouting.

He'd arrived shortly after them, his Sasuke-radar having apparently been sending the warning signals. Well, that and apparently he wanted to see Akira again.

Sakura didn't like that fact. She didn't like it at all.

First Sasuke had crushed on Mio, and now it was shaping up to be Naruto and Akira next. What was it with her chibi-ized versions of her old best friends and her sisters? _Was the universe purposely trying to make her develop a complex or something? _Sakura wasn't sure whether she wanted to know the answer to that. The universe hated Team Seven, and as the last member left, it was probably fate screwing with her. Again.

She sighed, shoulders slumping as she went back to mentally deconstructing the shunshin as the continued throwing various weapons at the target. Shisui had promised to show her, yes, but he hadn't actually taught her anything other than the base requirements for his _special _move. _Probably thought she wouldn't be able to get them down anytime soon. _Grumbling to herself, she stared back at the target board, noting the position of every single shuriken and kunai. There were far too many embedded in the outermost ring. Too many misses. It was pathetic.

"Don't look so down, Saku-chan," Shisui said, smiling down at her softly, patting her head in an attempt to comfort her. "You're already far better than most of the kids your age."

Her shoulders slumped. "But I don't want to be better than everyone my age," she grumbled, bitterness clawing at her. _Weakness wasn't an option. Not for her. She had to be strong. She had to. There wasn't any other choice_. "I want to be better than everyone."

Sniggering dragged her out of her slump, her eyes darting over to the shaking teenager at her side, eyebrow twitching in indignation. "That's a pretty big ambition, Saku-chan," he mumbled, patting her on the head yet again, ignoring the murderous glare she was sending his way. "All the Hokage are still alive, though Lord Third is clocking on in his years, so I think you've got some pretty big competition right there."

Sakura stomped her foot, folding her arms. "I'll beat them."

He stared up at the sky, a soft smile on his lips, and Sakura realised that no, he wasn't mocking her. He was looking oddly nostalgic, and she didn't mind that. She could relate to that. "Sure thing," he mumbled, seriousness returning to him in an instant.

"Just you watch," she grumbled, eyeing the target board darkly. A puny thing like that wouldn't stand in her way. She'd be stronger in no time – strong enough to protect everyone, make no mistake.

Shisui sat back against the tree, glancing over at the four faces carved onto the cliffside. "So you're aiming for the Hokage seat, then? Pretty big ambition…"

_"Someday, I know I'll be Hokage!"_

The words echoed in her ears. She shook her head viciously. "No. Never." _It reminded her of Naruto. It was Naruto's job to take the Hokage's desk. She had no interest in it. _"That's not my dream."

Shisui looked down at her curiously. "So what is?"

Sakura froze. _What even was her dream anymore? _She wasn't there to save the future. She didn't even know what the future held. It was full of mystery. All she had was a shattered past and her new family. "I…" Sakura bit her lip. "I guess… To make sure everyone I care about lives."

"That's… a good dream, Sakura-chan," he said, patting her on the head yet again.

Sakura felt her eye twitch. "What is your obsession with patting me on the head?" Her hands went to her hood, batting him away.

He shrugged. "Not my fault your head is perfect patting height."

There was silence for a moment, and then Sakura decided on her response to that as kunai appeared in her hands. "From now on, I'm using you for target practice."

Shisui paused. "Wait… Saku-chan… We can talk about this… Put those kunai down!"

Sakura smiled, advancing on him. "Nope."

"'Tachi!" Shisui yelled, running away. "Help."

Itachi looked up from the book he was reading on a nearby rock, one eyebrow raising as he surveyed the situation. "Good luck, Sakura-chan," he called, promptly returning to his reading.

"'Tachi!" Shisui yelped, ducking under a few sharp weapons that'd been scarily accurate. "You traitor!"

::

The emptiness was the first sign something was wrong. Her mother's questions were the next. It had been an ordinary day, despite that horrible sinking feeling in her stomach – the feeling that told her something was about to go incredibly wrong. She was a shinobi. She was supposed to listen to those instincts, and the wake up call was harsh and unforgiving. The sky was darkening, and she was back from tormenting Shisui and Sasuke.

Yawning, she pushed open the door leading to their tiny apartment. "I'm home!"

"Sakura-nee!" Sora yelled. "You're back."

Her mother popped her head around the corner, confusion marring her expression when she saw her. "Sakura… where's Aki and Mio? I thought they were with you…"

Ice shot through her heart. She stiffened, peering at the pink heads of hair watching her from around the dining table. "What?" Her voice seemed to echo, worry slicing through her as she realised that her mother was indeed correct. Mio and Akira were nowhere in sight. She'd left them with Itachi and Naruto when she went off to irritate Sasuke and Shisui. They were supposed to go straight home afterwards… but evidently they hadn't.

"Don't worry Sakura… I'm sure they'll be back soon," Misa said, biting her lip as she went over to where the twins sat, playing with the younger set of twins. "In the meantime, why don't you—"

"I'll find them," she said, pulling her sandals back on, hurrying back out the door without a second glance back. Shinobi were supposed to listen to their instincts, and hers were blaring the warning signals now.

Her feet slapped against street tiles, heart pounding in her chest as she raced to the last place she knew her sisters had been. The park. Chakra pulsed in her feet, tearing up the ground as she leapt closer, hardly caring about concealing too many of her skills. They'd already been noticed, and her sisters were at stake. Her safety could come later.

She made it to the park in record time, fading sunlight casting light on a scene which confirmed her worst fears. Strands of pink hair littered the ground, cut cleanly – by a knife of some description. A few deep gouges in the ground told of a struggle, and the small splotches of blood made her see red. Something had happened there, and it wasn't good. She traced the path of broken branches and scattered pink hair, something about the situation seeming oddly familiar – as if it rang a bell in the back of her mind – but she didn't have time to focus on that. Finding her sisters was far more important… and whoever took them was very much dead once she got her hands on them.

A large footprint in the mud made her pause, eyes scanning her surroundings as something rather worrying occurred to her… because if she was correct, and her sisters, and possibly Naruto too, had been abducted, then there was only one real place they could be taking them. Her surroundings confirmed that much as she stared up at the village gates in front of her before glancing down at the trail which led out of the village.

Her sisters were no longer inside Konoha.

Whoever had taken them was good, especially if they'd grabbed Naruto too… _and that meant, _the small niggling voice in the back of her head spoke, _she might not be able to take them on alone. _She needed backup. She knew better than to dive into a situation with other enemy shinobi headfirst. That was just asking for trouble.

She leapt up onto the nearest roof, sprinting headlong for the Uchiha District. There were only two people she could really trust to help her out. Grabbing any form of adult would take far too long, and her sisters might be out of the country by then – or worse, dead. Her heart pounded at the thought. She'd lose it if that were the case, and the aftermath wouldn't be pretty.

"Sakura-chan?" the soft exclamation startled her, her dark eyes locking with a matching set which belonged to the exact person she'd been looking for.

"Saku-chan, what're you doing on our wall?" Shisui asked, jumping up to join her alongside Itachi. "You're not supposed to cross it without permission, you—"

"Ithinksomeone'skidnappedmysistersandpossiblyNarutotoo!"

Shisui blinked. "Run that by me again at like… half the speed…"

Sakura breathed in deeply, exhaling shakily as she did as she was asked. "I think someone's kidnapped my sisters and possibly Naruto as well."

"Sakura?" Itachi's eyes were narrowed into slits. "What do you mean?"

She stomped her foot. _They were wasting precious time. _"My sisters didn't come home when they were supposed to so I went to the park where I last saw them and there were signs of a scuffle – as in hair, blood, and gouges in the ground that look like they came from a struggle. I know what I saw, and the trail already leads out of the village, so can we stop standing around like a bunch of idiots and go after them?" She cut them off before they could get another word in, silently urging them to shut up and follow her. "We don't have time to grab the adults – they'll spend too much time messing about getting ready, and we can't really waste any chakra on shadow clones and the like."

"How do you know about shadow clones?" Shisui asked, staring at her suspiciously.

"Is now really the time to be asking that?" she shot back, tapping her foot against the rooftiles as they stood around on top of the Uchiha District wall. They were both carrying their little weapon pouches, a tanto sheathed on each of their backs. They were dressed and ready, and they didn't have any time to waste.

Itachi and him shared a look – communicating in the odd way that only the closest of friends and family could do – before Itachi turned to her, a serious expression on his small face. "Lead the way, Sakura-chan."

"If it comes to any fighting though," Shisui said, hopping onto the next rooftop after her, "then I want you to stay back and let me and Itachi handle it."

"But—"

"Sakura, I'm a genin," he said, staring at her, for once his face wiped of any cheerfulness. "If anything goes wrong here, then as the oldest I'll be the one who has to take the blame… besides, I don't want anything happening to Itachi's cute pink mini-me!"

Sakura and Itachi sighed as one. "Shut up, Shisui."

"You two are so mean to me," he grumbled, eyes narrowing as Sakura led them to the ground, pointing at the large footprint she'd found what felt like hours before. Everything felt like it was moving far too slowly.

"This is where I tracked them to," she said, folding her arms as they both crouched down to get a better look at the shoe size of their opponent. "It leads us right out of the village."

"Then I suppose we'd best get down to business then," Shisui said, sprinting straight out through the gates, Itachi hot on his heels, and Sakura not too far behind. They ignored the two sleeping chunin by the gate, vanishing into the forest with barely a whisper of sound following them.

The hunt was on.


	9. Chapter 9: Idiots and Rescuers

Branches made no sound under their feet as they jumped down into the clearing below, eyeing the ashes of a hastily made campsite. Moonlight shone down on the scene, two pairs of sharingan activated as they scanned the area for any clues. The forest was dark, almost silent aside from the rustle of wind through the trees and the occasional hoot of an owl. Trees towered over her, their shadows long, wide enough to hide anything in their depths, and it made her eyes itch. She refrained from sending any chakra to her eyes. No way in hell was she going to use her sharingan when she had two perfectly capable, actually registered Uchihas to do it for her. There was no need for her to reveal herself just yet. They were making good progress. Cautiously, she wandered about the edge of the abandoned campsite, keeping an eye out for any traps. She didn't particularly want to fall for any and be relegated even further back from the action. Shisui was already keeping far too close of an eye on her as she prowled around, scanning for any sign of a trail. Sighing, she continued her search, eyes narrowing when a glint of metal caught her eye.

"This firepit is still slightly warm," Itachi spoke, pulling his ash-covered hand back, dusting it off on the ground. They'd left in a hurry, not bothering to clean up their campsite and erase the traces of it. _Amateurs or idiots…_ _How had they even gotten into the village in the first place? Somebody hadn't done their job correctly, and now it was her sisters who were paying the price._ "We're not too far behind them. Half an hour at most, I'd say."

"Well then…" Shisui said, folding his arms. "Sakura…?"

She reached into the bushes, fingers ready for any sort of trap, but there weren't any. Her hand closed around the hilt of the kunai, eyes widening when she spotted the yellow handle and the tri-pronged end. She rolled it in her palm, eyeing the Hirashin mark on its handle. _Like one of Naruto's kunai… but they'd originally belonged to his dad… _who was still alive in this timeline, she realised with a start. _But what was his kunai doing all the way out here alone… _It couldn't be a marker. It was too obvious, plus he could've just applied the seal directly to the ground or some various plant life where it'd have been much less noticeable. That meant there was only one thing it could be – Naruto's kunai. Probably given to him by his father for in times of emergency. _So why didn't the idiot use it… or better yet keep it on him…_

Shisui peered over her shoulder. "Is that…?"

"One of the Yondaime's Hirashin markers," she said, holding it up to the moonlight. "If we apply some chakra, we could probably summon him here…"

"Sometimes the things you know scare me, Saku-chan," Shisui mumbled, snatching it from her hands, examining it curiously. "You're like a dictionary."

Sakura stared at him flatly. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome," Shisui muttered, flaring his chakra through the seal without a second thought. Any sort of backup was good, especially that of an enraged kage, and apparently Shisui was on the same train of thought. "We're probably going to get in trouble though… just saying," he added on, and then suddenly there was a fourth person in the little clearing.

Spiky blonde hair rustled in the wind, white cloak billowing behind him, blue eyes narrowed, hands on hips as he spoke – as if about to lecture someone. Likely his son… but his son was nowhere in sight, as he soon learnt. "Naru—Shisui-kun?" He blinked, glancing around the clearing. "Itachi-kun… and…" His eyes fell on her. "I'm afraid I have no idea who you are, Chibi-chan." Sakura felt her face twitch. She was _not _that short… her hair didn't help her look that much taller and stuffing it under her hood should've made no difference to her height. "But anyway… why are you three out here, and why do you have my son's marker? Report, Shisui."

"Right." Shisui stood to attention. Itachi copied him. Sakura stared flatly at all of them, not budging an inch. "The pink-haired baby version of Itachi—"

Both she and Itachi kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!"

"Shut up and get on with the damned report," she hissed. "They're getting further and further away while we speak."

Namikaze Minato held up his hand, looking every bit of the lethal shinobi that he was. "I think I get where this is going… and I think you three best head back to Konoha," he said, glancing over in the direction of the trail they'd been following. "They're within range of my sensory abilities, so I'll take over from here—"

"Yeah, no." Sakura folded her arms. "Not happening, now lead the way," she said, ignoring how Shisui promptly started choking on air. "I'm going to rescue my sisters and there's not a single force on this earth that can stop me."

Shisui buried his face in his hands. "Sakura-chan, you're talking to the Hokage you know," he muttered, looking absolutely despaired.

Itachi stared straight ahead, long-suffering expression plastered on his face.

"And it involves my sisters," she said, leaping up into the tree branches. "Besides… Do you want to deal with two crying children by your lonesome? I'll be the best one to calm them down, and it's not like I'm helpless. I can defend myself."

Minato pinched the bridge of his nose, sensing somehow that he wouldn't be winning this argument, and time was scarce enough as it was. "Fine, but you stay behind me and these two while I dispatch them."

Sakura shrugged.

They were on their way before Shisui could mope for any longer, the three of them trailing behind the red flames embroidered on the bottom of the white cloak. Footsteps were silent against the bark, the air eerily still. Each breath she took sounded like a loud rumble of thunder – a prelude to the storm bearing down on them. _Relax, _she told herself. _She could handle this. Nothing would touch her sisters again. _A soft tap on her shoulder made her stiffen, dark eyes glancing up to meet Shisui's matching ones. He smiled, moonlight casting his face in light, the shadows of the trees darkening the ethereal image. It was a smile meant to reassure her. One which should've told her everything would be OK. It would've worked too, if she was an ordinary child, but she wasn't. Everything had changed. Her sisters had been snatched from a place where they should've been safe. Nothing was going to be the same again… because if nothing changed, then her sisters might disappear again… and the next time it happened, she might not make it in time. The silence was thick between them, a scant number of yellow-handled kunai appearing in their Hokage's hands – a signal that they were nearing their destination, and Sakura readied her fists. She might not have the precision that she used to, but it didn't meant she couldn't uproot a tree and swing it about. She'd tried that… and succeeded, much to her own glee, though she'd had to scarper quickly – because she'd made a lot of noise and one hell of a mess.

The lack of sound worried her, ears straining to pick up even a hint of sound other than her own breathing. _Maybe there wasn't any sound because they were all dead… _She bit her lip. _No. They were alive. They had to be. _Her eyes narrowed on the branches, heart thudding in anticipation as she heard the creak of a tree branch up ahead.

They were there.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, figures coming into sight, and Sakura's eyes narrowed even further. _Did they not have a sensor on their side? Or were they just that arrogant? _Though it didn't matter either way, she supposed. _They'd caught up to them._

Five kunai sailed forwards soundlessly, yellow handles glimmering in the moonlight, time seeming to slow as they sliced through the air. They slammed into the wood of the trees around them, the little thunking sounds making the small group of… Sakura's blood ran cold, having spied the music note symbol engraved on each of their hitai-tai. _Sound. Orochimaru. _Two heads of pink hair were thrown over two shoulders, the man holding them evading the yellow blur as best he could – though it wouldn't have mattered much. The Hokage was more focused on trying to get his son back from a rather speedy shinobi. They flitted around the clearing, a flash of yellow and purple, kunai sparking as they clashed in blurs of colour. _He was busy… and his son was the priority… her sisters were slightly lower on the list, at least for one Namikaze Minato. _Sakura made her decision in a heartbeat, leaping towards the man trying to slink away as quickly as she could, ignoring the sound of Shisui sighing pointedly behind her.

Her feet slammed into the back of his neck with far more force than a four-year-old should've been able to use, and the man crumpled bonelessly to the ground with a satisfying thud. Dead or alive, Sakura didn't particularly care. All that mattered were her sisters. They just needed to be safe. She pulled them free, jumping away from all the action – because a few of the combatants seemed to have the dreaded curse mark. Black markings were spreading across skin, snarls filling the air, followed by the coppery scent of blood being spilt. Sakura wanted to punch something. Preferably Orochimaru's face. That would be incredibly satisfying, because _he'd dared to try and take her siblings. _If he'd actually gotten his hands on them Sakura would've no doubt had to do something drastic… like start a one-woman war on Otogakure. _Though, to be honest, it was more likely they'd gone for Naruto as a political hostage and her sisters had been caught in the aftermath. Nobody knew she had the sharingan – aside from herself obviously, so nobody knew they were Uchiha, nobody knew how valuable they were… and it was going to stay that way for as long as possible._

"S…Saku-nee?" the slur of her sister's voice pulled her attention downwards, her eyes and hands scanning and prodding at the pair for any sort of injuries. Worry was written across her face, gaze widening as Akira slumped into her. What really got her blood pumping though, was the brief flicker of red before her sibling's eyes shut. _Redredredredred. _Her eyes weren't supposed to be red. They were black. Sakura didn't even get the chance to double check what she'd seen. She didn't need to. Akira was unconscious, her chakra levels low, and most importantly… _She had the damned sharingan. _Akira had the sharingan and judging by the scant amount of chakra Mio had, she'd awakened the cursed eyes too. Her hands shook.

_She'd failed them._

_She was supposed to protect them… and she'd let them down. _Her eyes narrowed into slits, jaw clenched. "I'm sorry," she whispered, brushing her thumb across Mio's high cheekbones, uncaring as a trail of muck and grime is left in its wake. "I should've been there…" Her hand balls into a fist, nails digging into her skin, the sounds of fighting still going on behind her even as her sisters laid there, unconscious. Every ring of metal on metal made her blood pound that much quicker, fury settling into her bones the longer she sat there. _How dare they… It was their fault… all their fault…_

"Sakura-chan…"

She snarled, rage erupting like a volcano, hands grabbing hold of the nearest breakable thing. Wordless snarls were the only thing her mouth was capable of making, ground trembling and breaking apart as she uprooted the nearest sizable tree she could get a firm grip on. Other sounds were lost on the wind howling around her, and the blood rushing through her ears as she hefted her makeshift weapon. She locked gazes with the nearest _bastard who'd dared to try and take her sisters… who'd hurt them badly enough to awaken their sharingan… _A bloodthirsty grin curled at her lips, rage being replaced by the sheer giddiness at the prospect of a fight. She could feel the adrenaline pulsing through her veins, and it was that which made her lips move. "Let's dance, bitches," she hissed, throwing her makeshift weapon at the man, eyes locked on the amber and black markings dancing over his skin. _She remembered markings like those—Sasuke screaming in agony—painpainpain—golden eyes, eyeing up her teammate like he was for dinner. _She slammed her eyes shut, pushing away those cursed memories, focusing her attention back on the fight.

There was no need for it though. Everything was over in a flash of yellow, blue eyes narrowed, scanning their surroundings for anything they might've missed. It was quiet. The fight was over, though Sakura would've preferred to call it a one-sided massacre. There was no one left alive to question about the events, nobody left to attack them. It was over. Her sisters were safe. Her eyes darted over to where they'd been propped up, a familiar head of silky black hair leaning over them. She hurried back over to them – the threat taken care of – blinking in confusion when she found herself lifted off the ground. The purplish sleeve registered as a non-threat in her brain, alarm setting in when she realised exactly who'd picked her off the ground like a naughty kitten. "Hey!" she grumbled. "Put me down!"

"Maybe I would, if you'd listened to my instructions," Minato said, sounding oddly exasperated as he turned to face the boys, his son safely tucked under his other arm. "Keep my marker," he ordered, nodding at the yellow-handled kunai in Shisui's grasp. "I'll be back in a flash."

Sakura blinked, the world shifting, a nauseating rush of colours flashing past her eyes, and then instead of the forest she'd been in only moments before, she was inside an incredibly familiar room. Well, it wasn't exactly the same, for one. The Yondaime Hokage seemingly kept on top of his paperwork, unlike the Godaime.

"Minato!" an oddly familiar voice rang out, and Sakura struggled to place it for a moment as she was dumped on something soft and cushiony. "Are you alright? You just disappeared all of a sudden… wait, why have you got Naru-chan there?"

"Shut up, Izuna," Tobirama muttered. "Give the man a chance to breathe—"

"—and he's gone again…"

"It's probably related to the break in earlier," Tobirama said, sighing loudly. "Use your brain for once in your life."

Sakura pushed herself to her feet, hands going to check her hood was still fixed in place, before she turned to the two figures standing over Naruto's prone form.

"Oh…" Onyx black eyes slid onto her. "Your pink mini-me is here too, Tobi," Izuna said, having finally just taken notice of her.

"Yeah. It only took you thirty odd seconds to work that out. Congratulations."

Izuna pouted. "You know this is why nobody ever wants to hang out with you, right?"

"Izuna?" Red eyes flickered over her form briefly before returning to the man beside him.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

A flicker in the corner of her eye was the only warning she got, and then her sisters were being placed down gently in the space she'd vacated only seconds before. They were sleeping still, as was Naruto, and Sakura shifted awkwardly on her feet, Shisui and Itachi standing off to one side.

"Right then… you three," Minato said, glancing between her and the two Uchiha. "I think it's time you gave me a full rundown of exactly what just went on, and why you thought it'd be a good idea to go trapezing through the forest in the middle of the night…"

Shisui sighed. "Told you we were going to get in trouble…"

Sakura stared at him flatly. "Congratulations. Your prediction came true."

"And with that said, shall we get to it?" Itachi tilted his head. "I don't know about you two, but I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

"You're two of a kind… you know that, right?" Shisui said, shoulders sinking as a throat cleared behind them pointedly.

"Anytime today would be nice," Minato said, burying his face in his hands, watching alongside Sakura as Tobirama went to check on the three unconscious children in the room.

Shisui's hand clamped down over her mouth, closely followed by Itachi's own, cutting off any form of retort before it could even leave her lips.

"You can start, Shisui," Itachi said, deferring to him as they stood in front of their Hokage.

"Right… Well…"


	10. Chapter 10: Picking Up the Pieces

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the fact they left the village without permission, nor the fact that they decided to track down an unknown number of shinobi without back up that got them. Instead it was something rather simple.

"You… threw a tree… at people…?" Izuna mumbled, staring at her, blinking in confusion. "Like… a whole tree? Or are we talking about a stick here, because that makes far more sense."

"I can confirm she threw an entire tree, roots and all," Minato interjected, sitting back in his office chair, a slight tint to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head. "It nearly interfered with my fight… and this was after I specifically told her to leave the fighting to me."

Sakura kept her facial expression fixed on the unrepentant setting. _She wasn't about to apologise for rescuing her sisters. _Shivers ran down her back, no doubt thanks to the red eyes fixed on her back, scanning her curiously from head to toe.

"Chakra enhanced strength…" Tobirama mumbled, biting at his thumb. "Well… she'll be taking the academy tests in just over a month, so we can keep an eye on her from there on in. I'm sure they'll be no more mishaps until then."

"Let's hope so," Minato said.

She shrugged. "No promises."

Shisui sighed. "Saku-chan, that was the part where you were supposed to nod your head, and say sure thing, like a good little shinobi," he muttered, patting her on the head yet again as he stood directly behind her, leaning on her head as per usual. "He's our Hokage, and Tobirama-sama is in charge of the Academy, they know what they're doing…"

Sakura scowled. "What am I supposed to do if it happens again? Sit back and wait while idiots faffle around and some git runs off with my sisters?" Her teeth ground together, hands curling into fists at the thought. _Adults hadn't been that much help in the war. They'd been the ones who'd died first, rushing forwards, blinded by anger and hatred. Idiots, the lot of them. _"They're _my _sisters. _My _responsibility. _Mine. Not yours! _They're… the only thing I have…" Tears pricked at her eyes, hands going to her hood, pulling it further over her face as her tears started to fall. _They were the only thing she had left in the world… she'd lost everything else. She couldn't lose them. She wouldn't lose them. _"You can't take that away from me!"

Shisui reached for her, patting hand at the ready, but someone else beat him to it.

"Shhh." A hand rubbed at her back, the other pulling her into a warm hug as arms swept her off her feet. "It's OK, Sakura-chan."

She stiffened, eyes wide as her face found itself buried in the high collar of his navy shirt. Her tears soaked through the soft fabric, hands fisting in the silky material as she hid herself away from the prying eyes of those around her. She hadn't meant to start crying. _She hated crying. It always took her back to the times when she'd been horrifically weak… how she'd pleaded with Sasuke… how he'd been alive and well… but he was gone, and her sisters were unconscious. _It was all too much for her undersized body. _She wanted to go back… wanted to take it all back… go back to blissful naivety… but then there'd be nobody to protect her sisters. Nobody to protect her. She couldn't rely on others. Other people had only let her down… it was why they were all dead – thanks to their weakness, and her own incompetence. _

_She wouldn't be incompetent again._

"Shhh," Izuna whispered, hand warm against her back as her sniffles died down. _She was done crying. Done being weak. _"There, there… Nobody's going to take your sisters away from you."

Sakura rubbed her sleeve over her face, mopping up the last of the tears.

"The information leak that led to the break-in has already been dealt with," Minato said, his voice softer than it had been only moments ago. "Your sisters won't be in danger again like they were today."

"See?" Izuna looked down at her, face alarmingly closer than usual. "Everything's going to be just fine."

Sakura folded her arms, the soft cooing voices reminding her that to them she was only four-years-old, though that number would be five in a matter of days. "Fine. Put me down," she grumbled, eager to escape their piercing stares. The longer they stared, the more nervous she got. _What if they saw? What if they magically figured out she was Uchiha from one glance…?_

"But—"

Tobirama sighed. "Put her down, idiot Uchiha."

Her feet met the ground again, wet sleeve and puffy eyes the only evidence of what had happened. "You saw nothing," she said matter-of-factly, turning her head to one side. "Absolutely nothing."

"On the contrary, Saku-chan, we saw everything." Shisui poked at her cheek. "But it's OK. We won't tell anyone that you cried."

"I wasn't crying." Sakura crossed her arms, staring determinedly at the wall. "There was just… some dirt in my eye. That's all!" _She did not just cry. She wasn't a cry-baby. Not anymore. _A hand patted her on the head, and she didn't even need to look to know whose it was. Her teeth lashed out, chomping down on the appendage, a satisfied smirk appearing on her lips at Shisui's cry of pain. _He deserved it, the sucker… patting her head like she was some sort of… lost puppy. _

"Violent…" he muttered, eyeing the bite mark marring his pale skin. "So violent…"

Itachi stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "You're only just working that one out?"

"Shush, 'Tachi."

"Shisui-kun," Minato called. "I trust you can escort Itachi-kun back home. It's late, and he needs to be at the Academy tomorrow."

"What about—"

Sakura blinked, scowling as she was tucked under someone's arm for the second time that evening. "Don't worry, Shi-kun, we'll get these three home," Izuna said, ignoring the daggers Sakura was sending his way as she hung there.

"My sisters—"

"—are fine," Tobirama interjected, two small pink-haired bodies tucked into his chest. "They'll wake up tomorrow morning maybe slightly more exhausted than usual, but they'll be fine."

"Hn."

"Let's get you home…" Izuna mumbled, jumping out of the window without a second thought. Rooftops blurred underneath them, Sakura occasionally pointing in the direction they needed to go, and all too soon they were standing atop the roof of her current home. Sharp ears left no doubt as to what exactly they were stood on top of. "You… live here?"

"Problem?" She folded her arms, jumping down from his hold.

"No… just… unexpected…"

"You've walked us home before, in case you forgot."

"Saku-nee!" Little feet padding against the rooftiles were the only warning she got before she was tackled by two slightly smaller bodies. "You're back!"

Sakura stumbled, blinking as an arm kept her upright, eyes darting to meet Izuna's ones. Oddly enough, he wasn't staring at her like he usually was. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Seiren's duck butt of a hairstyle. Her heart thudded in her chest, nervousness clawing at her. While she might be the only one of her triplet group to carry the distinctive Uchiha looks, the twins were different. They'd inherited their father's eyes, down to the very shape, and the pale skin and high cheekbones to match. "What are you two doing on the roof?" she asked, concern overpowering her fears of being discovered. "Wait, how did you even get up on the roof? You're supposed to be in bed! You need your sleep."

"You didn't come back." Sora pulled at her hoodie, biting her lip. "You went away and you didn't come back…"

"Well, I'm back now." She stepped back from their warmth, eyeing them from head to toe.

"We worried." Seiren pouted. "Kaa-chan said she'd go to the KPF or something if you weren't back by morning."

Sakura sighed, two fingers at the ready on each hand as she prodded her sisters' foreheads. "Idiots. I'm back now, so let's get you to bed."

Sora huffed.

Seiren rubbed her forehead. "Saku-nee, that wasn't nice."

She prodded them again for good measure, wrapping an arm around each of them as she carried them back to the open window they had to have climbed out of – a matter she'd be addressing at a later date. There'd be no _dangerous _roof climbing without her to supervise.

"Through here then?" Tobirama inquired, following her through the window, landing without a single sound inside the darkened room.

"Obviously," she said, eyeing Izuna as he came through. "Just put them down. I can handle everything from here."

"It's…" Izuna glanced around the place. "Cosy?"

"Keep it down, idiot," Sakura hissed. "My sisters are sleeping!"

"You have _more_ sisters?"

Sakura glared, ushering her siblings towards the bedroom, taking Akira and Mio from the white-haired Senju, carrying them to their beds. She was well-versed in the art of tucking her sisters in, so she was in and out of the room in a flash, turning to face her two guests with her hands on her hips. "Well, you've dropped us home." She folded her arms, looking pointedly towards the window. "Shoo."

"Well I guess I'll see you in just over a month," Tobirama said, completely unfazed by her rudeness. "You'll have to take the Academy tests after everything you've just been through, even if it's just so we can keep an eye on you. Don't make me drag you there."

"You could try," she grumbled, tapping her foot against the floor. "But I wanna be a shinobi, so hurry up and get out. I do want to get some sleep tonight, you know. Looking after my siblings is a fulltime job."

Izuna grinned at her from the windowsill. "See you at the Academy, baby pink-haired Tobirama!"

Sakura slammed the window shut behind them, scowling at the moon, irritation rolling off her in palpable waves. _Kaguya. _She shook her head, pulling her eyes away from the sight which always reminded her of that damned Rabbit Goddess. She needed sleep. There'd be a lot of things to deal with in the morning… far too many things. Sighing, she silently padded into their bedroom, stripping off her clothes, yanking her pyjamas on, eyeing her numerous siblings sprawled across the mattresses gathered together in the centre of the room.

"Nee-san?" Sleepy black eyes peered up at her, Yumi pushing herself to her elbows. "You back?"

"C'mere," she mumbled, settling down in the space between two of the younger set of triplets, sighing as warm bodies attached themselves to her like leeches.

She closed her eyes, patiently waiting for dreamless sleep to come. She never had nightmares when she was with her sisters, and Sakura couldn't be any more grateful for that fact. It meant she got a somewhat decent night sleep before she woke up at the crack of dawn to begin her daily exercise routing.

_Nothing would touch her sisters again. She'd make sure of that._

Her body woke itself up just as the first rays of light hit the curtain, her sisters making small noises of protest when she carefully extracted herself from the odd sort of puppy pile they always formed. Their mother was fast asleep in her room next to theirs, the entire place utterly silent as she crept out of the house to train. The streets were quiet, barely anybody moving about, aside from the occasional blur on the rooftops. Sakura wandered through the place silently, hurrying towards the training grounds she'd started to use. Her exercises were getting noisier and noisier, so she didn't particularly want to be the one who woke her sisters up. They needed their beauty sleep.

"What to do today?" she mumbled, stretching her arms out as she reached her preferred training ground. It was empty as per usual, nothing but the wind that yanked down her hood all of a sudden… and someone's hand pulling at her hair. Sakura stiffened, spinning around to face whoever had snuck up on her. That wasn't an easy feat to pull off, especially not after all her training over the last months… but of course, she was meant to be a cute little four-almost-five-year-old. "Excuse me?" She folded her arms, puffing up her chest as she glared at the man crouching beside her. "Could you let go of my hair please?"

"Aren't you a polite one?" Dark pink hair fell in front of jade green eyes so much like her mother's that she stumbled backwards.

"Kaa-san says never to talk to strangers."

Pink locks fell back in front of her face. "Your kaa-san probably also says not to wander around this village by your lonesome," he said, eyes narrowed, chills running down her spine the longer she stared into those _coldcoldcold _eyes. "Might I get the name of your precious kaa-san? It wouldn't happen to be Misa-chan, would it?"

Sakura kept herself still, deliberately unresponsive to his words. _Something was wrong. Her instincts were screaming at her to keep silent, heartbeat thudding in her ears as she stood there, blinking. _One hand was tucked behind his back, clenched around something. _He was suspicious. Incredibly so… and why did he know her mother by name? In fact… he looked somewhat similar to her… but kaa-chan had never said anything about having relatives. _"Oh," she said, a smile lighting up her face as her brain came up with a solution. "You mean Misa-oba-san? My kaa-san is bestest friends with her. Why? You know her?"

His hand came out from behind his back, empty, and mussed her hair. "In passing," he said, backing away from her slowly, waving over his shoulder. "Have fun training, baby Madara!"

Sakura twitched, yanking her hood up over her head, pulling it down to cover her face. _She did not look like Madara. She refused to. _Her hand slammed into the nearest training post, blinking when it crumbled into pieces. "Oops." Sighing, she shook her head, pink mane safely tucked and tied away in her hood. _Nobody could compare her to that man again… even if he wasn't the same person who'd obliterated most of what she'd loved. He still had the same face, and that was enough to haunt her. _


	11. Chapter 11: Sibling Secrets

The sun was shining brightly by the time she deigned to make her way back home, the streets and marketplaces coming alive as she strolled away from the half-destroyed training ground she'd left in her wake. It had felt good to work off some of the sheer annoyance which'd been simmering under her skin ever since her precious sisters had been taken – stolen away on Orochimaru's orders for an hour or two at most, but that didn't eliminate the fact it had still happened. She needed to be able to protect them, especially since their mother wouldn't be able to defend them from threats like that… not to mention their father was out of the picture. They were on their own. Her family was all she had. Sweat rolled down from her forehead, arm wiping away at it, uncaring as she left streaks of dirt across her alabaster skin. Sometimes she really hated her newfound paleness. The sensitivity of her skin to sunlight was new. Sure, before she'd had relatively pale skin, but she'd tanned _before_, nowadays she just burnt. It wasn't even close to summertime and she was already dreading it. Groaning, she navigated her way through the back alleys, unafraid of the shadows as she hurried home. They were the same streets she always walked, but the hairs on the back of her neck were raised, and they'd been that way ever since she'd bumped into the strange pink-haired man.

Dirt scuffed under her sandals, a loud sigh escaping her lips as her body instinctively took her the long route home, ducking into a building that wasn't home, a quick chain of shunshin between various houses and abandoned buildings before she finally reached the backdoor to where they stayed. It never hurt to be overly wary, especially with her instincts twitching the way they were. Better safe than sorry. Cautiously, she pushed open the heavy door, hurrying soundlessly up the stairs, blinking as she ran smack bang into Tomoe.

"Sakura-chan… where'd you come from?" she asked, bending down to greet her. "Your kaa-chan is looking for you… she's in a right tizzy. Come on… Let's get you upstairs."

Blinking, Sakura stared around the stairwell from her new vantage point, small arms wrapped around Tomoe's neck. _Sometimes she hated being a temporary midgit. _Her footsteps were loud against the staircase, unlike Sakura's silent ones, floorboards creaking as her self-appointed aunt carried her up.

"Was just exercising, oba-san," she said, voice muffled by the collar of Tomoe's robe.

"I heard about that." A finger prodded at her cheek. "Someone told me little missy here wants to be a shinobi… and if my guess is correct, then it seems you'll be taking after your tou-san in more than just looks."

Sakura blinked. "Who'd you think he is?" she asked, staring up into Tomoe's dark eyes. "Kaa-chan never talks about it…"

"Let's see…" She tilted her head, staring off into the distance as they paused, halfway up to the attic rooms. "Nearly six years ago… well… your kaa-chan snuck out into the garden a bit… though I always heard her talking with someone. They seemed to get along fairly well, but he didn't drop by too regularly… in fact, he hasn't been around ever since your youngest siblings were born… something about not wanting to get too attached…"

Sakura pouted. "That doesn't give me any clues as to who it was."

"Misa!" Tomoe called, barging into their living room, cutting off the conversation right then and there. "Look who I found on the stairwell."

"Sakura…" Her mother was at her side in an instant. "Sweetheart, don't scare me like that again, OK?" she whispered, pulling her into a hug, taking her from Tomoe in the blink of an eye. "You ran off last night… right before I had to work too, so I couldn't look for you."

"I'm fine, kaa-chan," she grumbled, folding her arms, ignoring the warmth curling in the pit of her stomach as well as the faint blush on her cheeks. _She liked being hugged, _not that she'd tell anyone that. "I'm gonna be a shinobi so I gotta be strong."

Misa set her down, hands on hips as she stared down at her. "You've still got a lot of growing to do before you become one, missy."

Sakura scowled.

Her mother crouched down, pressing her lips to her forehead. "One step at a time, Saku-chan… one step at a time…" she murmured, stepping back, wandering back over to the little kitchenette tucked in the corner of the room. "Don't be in a rush to grow up."

Sighing, Sakura stared at her back, admiring the long silky hair that fell to her waist, pushing down the part of her that made grabby hands at it. _Her hair used to be like that… until Obito had been a complete and utter idiot. _She threaded a hand through her spiky mane, poking at all the various bristles. Truly, the number and pointiness of them were incredible, but they still had the horrible effect of ensuring she'd never be able to style her hair properly. All she could manage was a ponytail or a simple braid. Most of the time though, she couldn't be bothered to deal with the mess that was her hair, so she left it down and very Madara-ish. It was only ever generally on display for her family though, so she doubted word would get back to the nosy git that was Uchiha Izuna.

"Kaa-san…" she began, thoughts eating at her brain as she tried to get some answers out of her mother. "Do… do you have any siblings?"

Misa paused in front of the stove. "No… why do you ask?" She turned around, green eyes narrowed, and if Sakura's instincts were right, there was worry written there too.

"There was some strange guy who asked if I was Misa's daughter," she said, sitting down at the table, her gaze flickering over to her bedroom door – where she knew her sisters were safely behind, no doubt about to wake up to the smell of their mother's cooking. "He had pink hair, but it was darker than yours… and his eyes were—"

A loud clatter made her Sakura's head snap around, shards of a broken plate littering the floor around her mother's feet. "—green," her mother finished, shoulders sinking. "Shit." Her hand ran through her hair, eyes narrowed as she strode across the room, hands resting on either of Sakura's shoulders as she stared down at her intently. "Sakura… what did you say to that man?"

"I said that you were kaa-san's friend." She folded her arms, eyeing her mother cautiously. _Something was going on, and her mother knew exactly what. _"That's all."

Misa breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank kami-sama…" she whispered, resting her forehead against her own. "It's lucky it was you… You know, I've never been more grateful that you take more after your father than me…"

"Misa…" Tomoe emerged from the bedroom she'd vanished off into. "Everything OK here?" she asked, eyeing up the broken cutlery.

Her mother simply grinned, most of the traces of earlier worry vanishing in an instant. "Everything's fine, don't worry. Just a simple case of butterfingers… but Tomoe… would you mind if I asked a favour of you?" she questioned, a sharp glint in her jade green eyes that made Sakura shiver. _Something was wrong. Very wrong… and somehow she doubted her mother would tell her – curse her undersized body._

"Sure. You've done plenty for me over the years," Tomoe said, glancing at Misa curiously. "What's so urgent that you need to spring this on me right now though?" Her gaze darted over to Sakura. "Want me to ask Saku-chan to play with her sisters for a little while…?"

"No." Misa shook her head. "But would you mind taking them over to your place for a few nights? Things might be getting… a bit hectic around here soon, and I'd rather not have them getting caught up in work business…"

"Alright…" Tomoe said, staring at her friend suspiciously. "But one of these days I want a full explanation out of you."

"Saku-chan… you and your sisters can play house with Tomoe for a few days, right?" her mother asked, smiling down at her. "You need to pretend Tomoe is your kaa-chan, OK? For a little game, alright…"

Sakura stared at her flatly. "Kaa-san… what's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, sweetie," she said, ruffling her hair. "You just need to play that little game with Tomoe and your sisters, alright? I'll bake cupcakes when everything's over… so go and pack your things and let your sisters know what's going on. You'll be taking all of your belongings over, and that includes your futons, understand? Leave nothing of yours in this apartment, OK?"

Her heart thudded in her chest, mouth dry as she nodded. She could pester her mother for answers later, she supposed. Clearly she wasn't in the right state to be answering all of Sakura's many questions. Sighing quietly, she wandered over to her bedroom, where she knew all the rest of her sisters would be waiting – sprawled out across the floor in various stages of sleep. She'd woken up next to them far too many times to be certain of anything else. Yawning, she slipped in, the barely audible click being the only sign of her entry as she moved through the room. Her eyes narrowed, falling on the forms of the other two of her triplet group. Akira and Mio. She bit her lip, knowing they'd be no doubt bombarding her with questions the minute they woke from their unintended nap. It was certainly going to be fun, trying to explain it all to them, ensuring they kept the little sharingan situation under wraps. Nobody could find them out. Nobody could know. After that was dealt with, she had to convince all of her sisters to start calling Tomoe kaa-san and ensure they all made it safely over to where they'd be staying for the next few days. Her teeth ground down harder, her head pounding as she tried to think in the short little while she had until her sisters started stirring.

Misa was hiding something. Something big. Sakura had no doubts it was likely a family matter of some description. Why else would their mother be trying to get them all out of the house? _Out of danger… _her mind echoed, fear making her heart pound again. She wasn't some weak little naïve civilian girl anymore. She was an awesome shinobi in the making with a lifetime of other memories stuck in her head.

"Saku-nee?" Sleepy black eyes peered up at her, Akira all but leaping to her feet to tackle her in a hug. "You came for us!" She blinked again, glancing around the room. "We're… home…" she mumbled, slumping into her embrace bonelessly.

"Shh, imouto…" she mumbled, nuzzling her cheek against Akira's equally warm one. "You're safe."

"Those scary bad people took us and Naru…" Akira trailed off. "Naruto? Where's Naruto-kun?" she asked, head turning furiously as she searched for any sign of the blonde mop. "You got Naru back too, didn't you?"

"He's safe back at his home… besides… I had help getting you all back," Sakura said, releasing her sibling from her death grip. _She was there. Home. Safe. _"But you two aren't going anywhere without me for a while, OK?"

Akira nodded viciously, biting her lip before she turned into her bubbly self once more. The transition was welcome, if oddly alarming. _Then again, kids tended to be better than adults at bouncing back from things. _"Nee-chan… when those bad men had us…"

Her eyes narrowed, resisting the urge to bare her teeth and growl. _Those bastards had taken her sisters out of their precious safety net. _"What? What happened?" Her hands were on Akira's shoulders, firm but not threatening. _She was saving the threatening for the next set of imbeciles who dared to touch her siblings._

"My eyes went funny," she mumbled, chewing on her lower lip, staring at the ground nervously. "Mio-nee said they were red and pretty before she went sleepies… Mio-nee's eyes were like that too though! The bad men said something about an Uchi-something and a shari-something… It was really confusing."

Sakura prodded her forehead, smiling as her sister started complaining quietly, having noticed the rest of their siblings still quietly sleeping. "Uchiha and sharingan," she mumbled, sighing quietly. There was no getting out of the explanation then.

Akira clapped her hands. "Yep! That's them! That's what they said…" She peered closer, face unbearably near until Sakura prodded at her forehead again. "Ow! Dammit nee-chan…" she said, rubbing at the spot she'd just poked, pouting before she unleashed her secret weapon – the one she knew Sakura was weak against: puppy eyes. "So… Nee-chan… what is Uchiha and sharingan?"

"I think you mean what _are _the Uchiha and the sharingan," she said, folding her arms as she avoided looking into her sister's pleading eyes. _She hated it when they were unbearably cute… it was almost impossible to deny their wishes. Almost._

"Huh?"

Sakura sighed. "The Uchiha are one of the founding clans of Konoha, our village," she said, lifting a finger as she educated her sister on some of the information she'd need to know, especially if they wanted to all pass the induction tests for the academy. "They're notable for their use of fire jutsu and their dojutsu – the sharingan."

"Do…jutsu?" Akira stared at her curiously.

"A visual jutsu found in the eyes. There are many different ones, but the sharingan is one of the strongest," she explained, trying to keep everything as simple as possible so her sibling didn't get too lost. She was far too much like Naruto in that regard, which was probably part of the reason why they got on so well.

"The pretty red eyes were the sharingan?" Akira asked, tilting her head cutely as she tried to process the information.

"Yes."

"And the Uchiha… Clan? Oh! Sasuke is an Uchiha… we can ask him!" She smiled brightly. "Kaa-chan can take us to the park, and we can ask Sasuke-kun and Sasuke-kun's brother – the ponytail guy!"

Sakura shook her head. "No."

Akira reeled back. "Huh? Why not?"

"It's dangerous." She folded her arms, her expression serious. _She needed to drill the warnings into her sibling's head. Nobody could ever find out they were Uchiha… not if the massacre was still scheduled to take place… _Her hands curled into fists. _Nobody would hurt her sisters, especially not on the village's orders. _"Those bad men would come back for you instead of Naruto… Not to mention people would probably try and separate us – from each other, and from kaa-san. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Akira paled, stumbling back, and Mio finally sat up on her futon, careful not to wake a peacefully sleeping Seiren curled up against her.

"Why?" Mio stared at her, voice lined with sleep as she stared between them.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "About damn time you stopped pretending to be asleep."

"Eh? You knew, Saku-nee?" Mio blinked.

She poked her forehead in retaliation. "Of course, idiot," she grumbled, looking away. "Your breathing gave you away. It was too shallow and quick."

"Oh." Mio pouted. "But nee-chan, if the sharingan is so awesome, then why can't we tell people? If it's so awesome then we should be able to stop those bad men."

"Yeah," Akira added, throwing her fists into the air. "We can—"

"You two can't." Sakura sighed, brushing her spiky locks behind her ear so she could stare at her two sisters without being poked in the eye by her own haphazard hair. "Why do you think you both passed out?"

She was met with two incredibly blank looks. Sure, she'd explained chakra to them all those months ago when they'd asked her to train them, but she hadn't really gone particularly in depth. She hadn't needed to. They weren't trying to pass Advanced Chakra Theory in an exam. She was far busier trying to teach them how to survive – and for the most part, it meant physical training. They were too young to start properly manipulating their chakra. Mistakes could be fatal at their current age, Sakura knew that well, and that was precisely why she'd kept to the basics when teaching them about chakra. She hadn't wanted them trying to do anything stupid, like attempt jutsu, behind her back.

Shaking her head, she relented her silent stare, giving them the answer. "You don't have enough chakra to keep the sharingan active… you'd probably drain your reserves trying to switch it on… and using too much chakra can _kill you_. There's a thing called chakra exhaustion, and in kids our age, it can be fatal."

"Wow…" Akira stared at her. "Saku-nee, you're so smart! How'd you know all this stuff?"

Sakura felt her eye twitch. "Did you not understand a word I just said?" she hissed, hair bristling like a cat as she glared at her two sisters. "You can't use the sharingan just yet, even though you've awakened it, and that means you can't protect yourself with it. So… _don't tell anyone we have it, otherwise bad things will happen, _OK?"

Mio teared up, eyes watering, and Sakura scowl faded ever so slightly as she was met with an armful of mildly spiky pink hair. "I'm sorry, nee-chan…"

"Hn. Don't be. It's not your fault," she grumbled, patting her sister's slightly fluffy hair. It was a different texture to her own – less fluff and more silky smoothness.

"So we can't use it… and we can't tell anyone 'bout it…" Akira mumbled, watching as Sakura nodded determinedly. "Awww… that's no fun."

"Would you prefer to die, or worse, be taken away from us?" Sakura questioned, staring harshly at her sibling, jaw setting into a grimace at the thought.

"Nonononono…" Akira sputtered. "Sorry nee-chan… I won't tell anyone. Promise!" She puffed up her chest. "I'll protect our secret, no matter what, 'kay?"

Sakura nodded. "That's right."

"Wait." Mio pulled back from her embrace. "You said _we_! You said that _we _have the sharingan… Nee-chan…?"

Sakura sighed again, eyes flickering red, three tomoe spinning as she stared at her sisters. "We have the sharingan, and it's _our _secret." She glared at both of them. "We protect that secret with our lives, understood?"

Akira's face loomed in front of her own, making her blink as two small hands cupped her cheeks, black eyes staring curiously into her red ones. "Huh… They're red… and pretty! Like those red gems!"

"Rubies," Sakura supplied.

"Yeah!" She nodded. "But Mio-nee only had one of those black dots in the red bit."

"They're called tomoe," she explained, pulling her face away from her sister's prying hands.

Akira grinned. "Like Tomoe-oba-chan!"

"Yeah… like that," she mumbled, red fading into black as she pulled her chakra back.

Mio pressed her fingers together, biting her lip before she finally voiced her thoughts. "Nee-chan… didn't you just say we wouldn't be able to use them? Were you lying to us? You just used them."

Akira squinted suspiciously at her. "Yeah! How come you get to use them and we don't? Show us! Show us!"

Sakura poked both of their foreheads at the same time, smirking as they recoiled in pain, irritation flashing across both their faces. "I can use the sharingan because I currently have far more chakra than either of you."

Akira pouted. "Aww. Why?"

She folded her arms, glaring at both of them. "Because I'm the oldest, obviously," she said. "Some people are born with more chakra than others." _Some people also happened to cross dimensions and wind up de-aged, but Sakura wasn't going to tell them that. _That conversation would be better saved for a later date, or ideally, never at all. "Now let's hurry up and wake the rest of our sisters… Mum's cooking breakfast, and she's got something to tell us."


	12. Chapter 12: Freefall and Failure

Akira was pouting by the end of their mother's explanation. Her lower lip trembled – a deadly move for most, but their mother was well versed in all their manipulative ways. "But why, kaa-chan?" she asked, staring imploringly up at their mother. "You're our kaa-chan… why do we need to pretend Tomoe-oba-chan is?"

Mio nodded furiously, echoing her triplet's words.

Sakura fought the sudden urge to grin. Her triplet was voicing all her many questions, but she'd be more likely to wheedle answers out of Misa. Sakura, unfortunately, didn't have Naruto's tenacity, and she knew when it was best to cut her losses and wait. Akira was alarmingly like her old Naruto, so she wasn't accepting any of the little deflections Sakura would've noted. She was young, compared to Sakura, especially in mentality, and with that came a kind of naivety about the intricacies of the adult world. Still, Misa was their mother, and she was trying to protect them from something. _Something big, if her instincts were still anything to go off. _She was trying to get her and the rest of her siblings out of the house, which meant the enemy might be stopping at their house at any moment. _That was probably why the curtains were pulled shut, _Sakura mused. _Either way, it'd be best for them to stay away from their mother until things blew over and it was safe for them to return. _No matter how much training she'd been doing, she couldn't be watching after each and every one of her sisters, especially if a fight broke out. _They'd be in danger._

She stood to her feet, hurrying around to the head of the table, replacing her mother's desperate words with her own. _The ones she knew would make her sisters actually want to play the little game of play pretend. _"We're playing a game of _ninja, _OK?" Her eyes met each of her sisters' matching ones. "Kaa-chan is our mission leader, and we've been given an assignment." She folded her arms, watching on with a small smirk as Akira and the twins perked up in excitement. "We're gonna be infiltrating the house of Tomoe-oba-chan. Kaa-chan is just testing us. She wants to see if we've got what it takes to go to the academy. Hn."

"Really?" Seiren grinned, and her twin Sora perked up. "Is kaa-chan testing us?"

"Yep," Sakura said, looking on proudly at her siblings as they listened intently to her words… well, aside from Akane and Nozomi – but that was only to be expected. They were both only a two years old, and they had the attention span of a goldfish. Sakura doubted they'd notice their mother missing all that much. She was the one who took care of them most of the time, with Tomoe-oba-chan chipping in a bit.

"So… it's a game?" Akira tilted her head. "Kaa-chan isn't leaving us?"

"Of course not, sweetie," Misa mumbled, patting her head comfortingly. "Infiltration can be a big part of a shinobi's career, though it can sometimes be very dangerous… you have to be cautious about these things, OK?" She stood, hurrying over to the kitchen cabinets, rustling through them, a slight smile on her lips when she finally found the box she was looking for. "Treat this as your first bit of homework," she said, setting the large tin box down in front of them.

"Home… work?" Tora asked, practically standing on her cushion as she tried to get a peek inside the mystery box their mother had set down in front of them. "What's homework?"

Sakura smiled. _That was one things she certainly hadn't missed. Still, it was nice. There'd be no time for homework if they were at war. _Peace was nice. "It's work our future sensei would make us do at home," Sakura explained, deciding to give their mother a break from the constant stream of questions thrown at her by each of her siblings. _She looked stressed and worried enough as it was. _

"Is it fun?" Tora stared at her cutely.

She scratched the back of her head. "Well… maybe?" She grinned sheepishly. "I think we'll have to wait and see… but don't worry," she said, reaching over to hug her counterpart in the younger set of triplets. "Saku-nee will help when it gets to your turn to do it… well, if you still wanna be a shinobi by then." Her hand mused the short straight hair, her smile widening at the soft, smooth texture. _She could stroke Tora's hair all day long. _It was sort of ironic. Tora the cat's fur had been the same, but Sakura would've never dared to try and stroke the rabid feline. _Her sister was a far better replacement for the cat. They even shared the same name._

"Un." Tora nodded, sitting herself back down, still eyeing up the box curiously.

Sakura peered at it. "What's in the box, kaa-chan?" she asked, watching as their mother pulled the lid off the nondescript box, revealing a few stacks of paper with familiar squiggles on them, along with sets of what Sakura knew to be contacts. Her eyes narrowed, spying the rows of kunai and shuriken neatly placed inside one of the box's compartments. _Why would their mother have the tools of a shinobi hidden away inside their house – somewhere only she'd be able to access them? _Sakura swallowed while the rest of her siblings looked on eagerly, unable to read their mother's mood. _They were too young to understand all the possible implications of everything Misa had just revealed._

"This'll help you with your little… mission…" Misa said, avoiding what Sakura knew to be the explosive tags. _She'd seen enough – used enough – of them to know the seals that made them off byheart. _She'd studied enough seal work and made enough of her own to hazard a guess at all the other possible uses of the other seals. "But this little box needs to be kept as a family secret, understood?"

Akira's head snapped around, eyes locking onto hers. "It's OK kaa-chan. We can keep family secrets," she said with a wink.

Sakura resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. Akira was not subtle in the slightest. A soft smile pulled at her lips. _Just like Naruto. _

"Ooo." Mio peered at the box, taking the seal their mother handed to her with a strange amount of reverence. "These are seals, aren't they, Saku-nee?" She held the slip of paper up to the light, unflinching under Misa's curious stare. "Nee-chan taught us some stuff 'bout them in the garden. It was super cool!"

"Yeah!" Yumi nodded. "They can make things go BOOM if charka—"

"Chakra," Sakura corrected automatically.

"—chakra is put in it," Yumi finished off.

"But that's not what these ones do, otherwise kaa-chan wouldn't have let us near them," Sakura said, looking on as their mother smiled and pressed the seal tag to Mio's back. A little buzz of chakra later, and Mio was no longer pink-haired. Instead, a small, slightly spiky-haired brunette looked back at her as she sat in the cramped room.

Ran watched on quietly, eyes wide, but Sakura knew better than to be fooled by the outward look of calm. The youngest of the second set of triplets was a quiet menace who loved jumping on her to wake her up. Though as of late, Ran hadn't been able to catch her waking up, so her stomach had been saved from any possible abuse, and for that Sakura was grateful.

"Me next! Me next!" Akira jumped up and down, looking up at their mother pleadingly. "Pretty please?"

"The dye will wash out in a week's time, but that should be long enough for your little mission," Misa mumbled, applying the next seal to Akira's back, smiling slightly as her daughter admired her new hair colour.

"It's the same colour as Tomoe-oba-chan's!" she sung, wrapping her similarly coloured sibling in a bear hug.

Sakura smiled, settling Akane down on her lap, stroking the slightly more reddish spikes on her head. Out of all her siblings, she was the only one who had a similar sort of hairstyle to her own. She supposed it was possible they had the same father, despite being the oldest and youngest sets of triplets and twins respectively.

"Kaa-chan! You forgot Saku-nee and Akane!" Akira's voice sounded, bringing her attention away from her second youngest sister, and onto the rest of the room where a load of brunette children milled about.

Sakura prodded her forehead as soon as she was in poking range, smiling as Akira pouted. "Not all of us can have our mother's new hair colour," she said, ruffling Akane's hair in the next breath.

"Saku-nee, that's not fair," she grumbled, huffing as she folded her arms. "Why doesn't Kane-chan get poked too?"

Sakura grinned, setting their other sibling back on her cushion, reaching out to ruffle her triplet's hair instead. "Don't worry," she mumbled, sneaking in another poke, much to her sister's dismay. "I'll be sure to poke her plenty once she's a bit bigger."

"Sakura-chan…" Her mother came to her side, holding out a very familiar kind of scroll. "I'm going to leave you in charge of this… since you seem to know the most about seals," she said, watching as she took the sealing scroll and tucked it in her pocket. "It's a sealing scroll, and I've put all your belongings – including your futons inside it. Don't unseal it until you're over at Tomoe's place, OK?"

She nodded, pulling her hood up until it covered her hair and face as per usual. "OK."

"Tomoe…" Misa glanced over at their self-proclaimed auntie. "I'll leave them in your care for the next few days. Keep an eye on them, for me, won't you?"

"Sure thing." Tomoe nodded, swiftly taking charge of the situation. "Now, follow me kiddies… It's time you saw your oba-chan's apartment—sorry, your _kaa-chan's _apartment," she corrected under Misa's severe gaze. "Come on." She herded all of them towards the coat rack, watching as they all pulled their socks and shoes on before grabbing their coats from the hangers.

Sakura trailed behind them, pulling on her sandals, watching as Tomoe guided or carried the rest of her sisters down the stairs before she finally turned to the sole person left standing in the room. Her stomach was in her toes, heartbeat echoing in her ears as she heard Tomoe shout up thanks for the _sleepover. _Sakura resisted the urge to smile. _It seemed they were all getting into character. _

"Misa-oba-san…" she mumbled, the words feeling heavy on her lips. "You'll tell me what's going on when we get back, won't you?" She pressed her lips together, relief flooding through her at the slight nod of her mother's head. _She'd get her answers soon then… _"Promise?"

"I promise, sweetheart," Misa whispered, stroking her hair back from her forehead as she knelt down in front of her. "The next time you come here… I'll tell you everything… about my family… about all your possible fathers…"

Sakura felt her voice crack. "Really?" _She was going to get her answers as easily as that?_

"Why would I lie to you, Saku-chan?" She tilted her head, staring down at her softly. "You've already grown up far too quickly for my liking… so I think it's about time I at least told one of you the truth…" Misa trailed off, glancing towards the windows. "Just in case something happens."

Her small hand bunched in the fabric of Misa's kimono. "Don't forget," she muttered, wondering what the sinking feeling in her chest was as she stared up at her mother, heart beating furiously in her chest.

"Before you run off after your kaa-chan though…" Misa smiled. "Can I get you to promise me something?"

"Sure." Sakura grinned, pushing the dawning feeling of dread to one side as she smiled up at her mother. _Something was wrong. Something was about to go horribly wrong. _She swallowed the dryness in her throat. "Anything."

"No matter what happens from here on in," she said, the smile vanishing from her face, replaced by the utmost serious expression Sakura had ever seen on her mother. "Promise me you'll take care of all of them. Promise me you'll look after your sisters, just like you've been doing already. Please, Sakura…"

She scowled, looking away from her mother's severe face. "Of course," she mumbled gruffly, shifting on her feet as Misa continued to look at her. "They're family… _just like you_… and I take care of my family." _She always would._

Sakura blinked, staring at the kimono fabric her face was smooshed against, wrapping her arms around her mother as she was hugged tightly. _It was warm, _she realised, snuggling against Misa. _She loved hugs, not that she'd admit it. She was an adult. They weren't supposed to need hugs… still, it didn't mean she couldn't enjoy them… especially those given by her family. _"You're going to be an excellent shinobi one day, Saku-chan… and whoever wins your heart is going to be the luckiest person alive…"

Heat rose in her cheeks, a grunt escaping her lips as she turned her face away, desperate to hide her blush. Shinobi weren't supposed to blush. _She wasn't supposed to blush over every little comment, no matter how warm and fuzzy they made her feel inside. _"Hn."

"I love you, Saku-chan…" Misa whispered, setting her back down, handing her over a decently sized tin, all but throwing her out the door seconds later with strict instructions to catch up to her Tomoe-kaa-chan.

It wasn't all that hard to locate a gaggle of brunette children and one pink-haired child in Tomoe's arms. There was no point in hiding her hair, nor Akane's. Their enemy had already seen her pink locks, so dyeing them would only increase suspicions. Sakura sighed, praying the pink-haired man would leave her and her siblings alone now they were off with Tomoe. No doubt her mother was hoping for that scenario too.

"Saku-nee!" Akira waved as she caught up to them. "You came…"

Sakura folded her arms with a huff, the tin Misa had given her tucked safely under one arm. "Of course I came. I'm your big sister. It's my job to take care of you."

Yumi grabbed her hand, tugging her forwards so they were close on the heels of their pretend mother for the week.

"What's in the box, nee-chan?" Mio glanced over at the tin.

"Dunno." She shrugged, but she certainly had her suspicions. It was, after all, their birthday tomorrow. They'd finally be five – finally be old enough to try out for the academy along with the other kids. It didn't matter to her that it'd most likely be clan kids attending in the first year before the large majority of civilian students trickled in. "We should probably open it tomorrow though…"

"Awww," Akira groaned.

"It's a surprise for tomorrow," she explained, hiding the smirk at the excitement which soon spread across her sister's face.

"You think ka—oba-san made us cake?" She bounced up and down on her toes. "Really? Really? K—Misa-oba-chan always makes the best cakes!"

Mio grinned next to her. "Can we see it?"

Sakura shook her head. "Save it until tomorrow."

"Aww… but we wanna see it now!" Akira pouted, unleashing the puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please. Pretty pretty please?"

Sakura prodded her forehead – _it was right there in perfect poking radius – _shaking her head as her sister reeled backwards. "No," she said, tucking the cake safely under her arm away from the two sets of eyes staring hungrily at it. "We're going to eat it tomorrow, on our actual birthday… otherwise it'll be gone knowing you two."

"So mean…" Mio grumbled.

"Hn." She grunted. "You'll be thanking me tomorrow when you can enjoy it."

Mio huffed. "Fine."

"Promise?" Sakura puffed her chest up, looking between the other two of her triplet group. "If I come out at any point between now and tomorrow and find that you've eaten the cake, there'll be trouble, understand?"

"Pssh." Akira deflated.

Sakura glared. "I will hang you by your ankles from the nearest tree. _Naked," _she warned, staring at the pair of them, letting them know she wasn't joking in the slightest. _Years of learning under Kakashi-sensei had improved her creativity when it came to threats. _

Akira and Mio shuddered as one. "We understand, nee-chan," they chorused as one.

"Good," she mumbled, watching as Tomoe led them up a set of metal steps, having already led them further away – right to the very borders of the red light district, rather than smack bang in the centre where they'd been before. It was a small place, ever so slightly larger than where they'd been before – the kitchen and living room more spread out now they weren't cramped together in the attic. There were two moderately sized bedrooms, the one assigned to them large enough to fit all nine futons in, packed tightly together. The entire floor had become one large mattress, and Sakura knew they'd all be sprawled out in a tangle of limbs later that night as they usually were.

As it was, it was already late afternoon, nearly evening by the time they were settled in their _new _room. It didn't smell right, but Sakura supposed it didn't matter too much. _They were only there for a week, anyhow. _Yawning, she eyed Tomoe behind the stove, hurrying over to help with dinner as much as she could. It was only fair, after all the work their mother had suddenly lumped on her.

"You're a good kid, Saku-chan," Tomoe mumbled, ruffling her hair as they loaded up all ten of the plates. "I don't know how Misa manages all of you…"

"I help," she declared proudly – because she did. She always tried to help with dinner – _her sisters needed carefully balanced meals, especially with their new exercise regime – _and she always made sure to tuck them all in at bedtime to ensure they got all the sleep they needed.

"Let's call your sisters over then," she said, setting the plates out across the same table they usual ate around – they'd been forced to switch tables, with all nine of them coming over. No other table would fit them all comfortably otherwise. Ten-seater tables weren't easy to come by, not to mention they could be a bit pricy. "Girls! It's dinnertime!" she called, and Sakura smiled as she heard the tell-tale sound of feet pattering towards them.

"Made it," Seiren muttered, sliding onto her preferred cushion.

Sora scowled. "Hardly! I was here first!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was! Too!"

Sakura poked their foreheads, interrupting their little stare off, smirking as they gave twin groans. "You're both here, and that's all that matters… now let's wait for the rest of them…" She trailed off, watching as Akira and Mio stumbled out of the bedroom together, each taking their seats right next to her usual place. _They liked sitting next to her… trying to copy her slightly more refined table manners. _They were adorable. All her sisters were.

"You think ka—I mean Misa-oba-chan will be OK on her own…?" Akira mumbled, pushing her food around her plate, eyeing the nicely cooked mackerel with disdain. "We've never been away for long…"

"She'll be fine, Aki-chan," Tomoe said, smiling at her. "She's a grown adult, unlike all of you—" Sakura snorted. _She was totally a grown adult too – she was just trapped in the body of a child. _"She can take care of herself for a few nights… in fact, it'll probably be a nice break from all the work she usually has to do to take care of you."

"I'll check on her later, 'kay?" Sakura whispered, trying to assuage both her sister's fears, and her own. _It had felt like Misa had been saying her goodbyes earlier, and Sakura didn't like it in the slightest. Nothing bad was going to happen to her family. Not yet. The universe could hold out on the curse of Team Seven for another few years at least, couldn't it…? Her sisters were already dangerously close to becoming traumatised thanks to the kidnapping. Her family didn't need any more misfortune. _

"You will?" Akira stared at her, a big grin on her face. "Really?"

"Of course," she muttered, looking determinedly away from the sheer happiness on her sister's face at those words. _She liked her sisters' smiles. She wanted to keep them smiling for as long as possible. They deserved happiness… unlike her. She didn't have time to enjoy herself – she had jobs to do. Lots of them. Everyone was counting on her, including her sisters. _She had to live up to their expectations, whether she liked it or not.

"Can we come too, nee-chan?" Mio looked at her, those big dark eyes watering, the puppy dog eyes most definitely activated.

"Fine," she grumbled, knowing it would be best not to deny them that much. _Besides, they'd barely been gone for an entire day… trouble couldn't have found Misa already. She'd just need to ensure they all kept out of sight. It'd be good training in stealth at least._

Sakura sighted, shovelling her food down, smiling at the taste. _Even if it wasn't particularly tasty, it still tasted better than the ration bars she and Obito had been forced to live off for months following Kaguya's arrival. If she had to eat another one of those in her lifetime, she was fairly sure she'd throw up… she'd probably ought to try and save up for the Akimichi ones if she ever had to take some on a mission. The dry taste of the Konoha standard ones would make her hurl otherwise. _

"So… when we going to visit ka—Misa-oba-chan?" Mio leant forwards, ignoring Tomoe's piercing stare focused on them and their conversation, no doubt ready to interrupt them and say they couldn't go. Sakura stared right back, eyebrow raised, a smirk on her lips as their precious new _kaa-chan _left them to their own devices. "We can't go out too late."

"After the sun sets," Sakura informed, taking another bite of her rice. "Wear something dark. We'll be sneaking through the back alleys – so you'll need to stick close. I don't want to have to go looking for you or have to rescue you from any weird situations, OK?"

"Sure thing, Saku-nee." Akira nodded, Mio copying her every action. "We'll be awesome at sneaking out – just you watch! Nobody will know we're there."

"Yeah." Mio nodded for a second time.

Sakura sat back eyeing her sisters. "We'll see."

Akira puffed up her chest. "Yeah, you will," she declared, sticking her finger in her face. "Come on Mio." She marched off to their bedroom, where all their clothes were stored. "We need to figure out what we're wearing."

Sakura resisted the urge to grin. _Her sisters were so cute. _She sipped at her glass of milk, silently watching the sun set as she sat at the dining table. She was already dressed ready for their little excursion – wearing her usual black hoodie and shorts, hair braided into plaits as neatly as she could manage with her fluffy hair – so when the sky was finally turning a lovely shade of midnight blue she was waiting by the door, blinking as four of her sisters appeared out of their room. They were dressed in dark colours, Akira and Mio having cute little dark hats over their dyed hair. Sora and Seiren stood slightly behind them, hands firmly gripping onto their sibling-of-choice's clothing, faces set in determination.

"Right." She folded her arms across her chest. "If you want to come along, then you have to _listen to me no matter what I say_ and follow me as closely as you can. I don't want any of you getting lost or wrapped up in a fight. There's only one of me, and there's four of you, so I can't be everywhere at once." She looked between the four of them. "We're using a buddy system, so partner up, and don't let go of each other's hands unless it's _absolutely _necessary, OK?"

"Mio-nee." Seiren held out her hand. "You with me."

"Pssh. Akira-nee is better," Sora muttered, grabbing her straight-haired sibling by the hand.

Sakura sighed, prodding both of them smack bang in the centre of each of their foreheads. "I think you mean Sakura-nee is the best… you know… because I'm the one taking you all out," she said, turning around to crack the door open. "Tomoe-oba-chan is out, so I'm taking the key… so once again… _don't get separated from me, otherwise you won't be able to get back in…_ if all else fails and you do get lost, try and make it back here. If not, I'll find you." She pushed the door open, tucking the key into her pocket, ensuring there weren't any holes in the damn thing. "Oh, and if anyone tries to kidnap you, then scream or shout and I'll come and deal with them… you got all of that?"

"Yes, nee-chan," Seiren said, nodding as Mio led her out into the cold night air.

Akira and Sora followed close behind, Sakura shutting the rest of their sleeping siblings inside. _She already ensured they were fast asleep and all electrical items were switched off and unplugged. Nothing could happen to them while she was out checking on their mother._

Yawning, she jumped down to the ground from the railing, earning four sets of excited stares as she landed soundlessly on the hard-packed dirt.

"Saku-nee… you'll teach us how to do that too, won't you?" Akira asked, staring at her pleadingly. "Pretty please?"

"Once you're in the academy," she said, thinking about the joys of being able to see the school's certified med nin. _It'd certainly make it easier to deal with any scrapes they got. They didn't have any medical insurance, and Sakura wasn't even sure if they were registered with Konoha Civil Services, seeing as they were Akasen brats. Not many kids like them were._ "Not before."

"Aww."

"You're such a stick in the mud, nee-chan," Mio grumbled, pulling Seiren along beside her as Akira did the same for Sora.

"It's called being sensible," she muttered, peering around the edge of the alleyway they were walking through, double checking the coast was clear as she led the little group of five of them back towards their usual home. "You'll learn the importance of it when you grow up."

"Pssh." Akira snorted. "It's called being boring." She stuck out her tongue.

"Keep it down, Aki-chan," Sakura muttered. "We can't make too much noise, especially around these parts… oh, and if you see any adults kissing, then be sure to avert your eyes," she added, sharply guiding her sibling away from one of those said couples.

"Kissing?"

Sakura shrugged. "It looks like they're sucking each other's faces off."

"Ewww." Akira shuddered. "That sounds icky, right Mio?"

"Yeah," Mio mumbled.

Sakura turned, glancing at her slightly spiky-haired sister. "So make sure you don't let Sasuke do it to you. Kissing on the lips is only supposed to be done by adults, so if Sasuke-teme tries, I'll end him…" she hissed, clenching her hands into fists.

"But Sasuke's nice…" Mio said dreamily, and Sakura fought the urge to hunt down Sasuke and ruin his pretty-boy face. _How dare he unknowingly seduce her sister…_

"Oh, Saku-nee, we're here!" Seiren said, staring up at the back of their mother's workplace, eyeing the windows that led to their old apartment of sorts.

She only needed one look to know something was wrong. Her mother's chakra signal wasn't in the building. She wasn't in the apartment, nor was she at work. "OK…" she mumbled. "Mum's not home, so from this point on I want you to be quiet no matter what happens, OK…" She turned to look at her sisters. "Do you copy?"

"Yes!" Akira nodded, flinching under her glare. "Sorry… I'll be quiet…"

Sakura sighed, silently wishing she'd made them all stay at home. _She should've known the law of Team Seven would've made something go drastically wrong. It was her curse. Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong. _She closed her eyes, searching for the thread of her mother's chakra, tentatively reaching around, before she finally found the string of chakra leading to the source. She hurried towards it, well aware of her sisters' horrifically loud footsteps. _She really needed to teach them more stealth. _

"You've slept with two of them already!"

Her eyes narrowed. She recognised that voice – if only vaguely – as she ducked behind the little wall of fencing blocking off the two alleyways. It was short enough that she – a little four-year-old, one night short of five, needed to duck to go completely unseen.

"What'll be next? Giving birth to one of their unholy spawn?"

It was the man who'd yanked her hood back earlier that very morning… and he was hissing something at her mother, but Sakura couldn't make heads of tails of what they were going on about.

"Look at where I work, _cousin_," Misa hissed, practically confirming right then and there that they were family. "Do you really think I could've refused them?" Her lips were twisted into a snarl, and clearly neither of them, nor the man standing slightly behind the pair, were any good of a chakra sensor – hence why they were able to sit there with none of them any wiser. Sakura was only thankful their voices covered the sounds of her sisters crawling to join her in her crouched position, peering over the top of the small fence.

"Our ancestors cursed them for a damned reason… are you forgetting what they did to our clan? On the orders of the Daimyo… just so they could make their precious village…"

Sakura tilted her head, not liking where the entire thing was going. Nothing good ever happened when two adults confronted each other – more so when they both seemed to have at least some sort of shinobi training.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me," Misa muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I'm just living my life out here. I'm not trying to _do _anything… I've barely even seen them."

"I'd love to believe you, _sweet cousin, _but somehow I doubt it… because earlier today I met a rather _cute _little pink-haired child who looked an awful lot like one Uchiha Madara. Coincidence?" He tilted his head, and Sakura winced. _Of course she hadn't gotten away with it. The universe just loved to hate on her. _"I think not…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "You spawned with that bastard, didn't you?"

Misa snickered. "Too afraid to say the word _sex, _are we?" She sneered. "Besides, I'd think I'd remember if I had a child, so the answer is _no. _I don't have any kids."

Beside her, Sakura felt her sisters twitch, but her sharp glare and finger pressed to her lips kept them quiet… for the time being. _She had a horrible feeling the worst wasn't over yet. _

"Hmm… I don't think I want to take the chance that you're lying… you've always been horrifically good at telling those with that silver tongue of yours…"

Misa scowled. "If you try to get any innocents mixed up in this…"

"You'll what?" He leered at her, a smirk on his lips. "You're powerless when faced with us…"

Their mother laughed, and Sakura only felt her respect for the woman she'd been calling mother for the past few months grow. "I think, _dear cousin, _you're forgetting we come from the same damned clan… and what does our clan specialise in…?"

The pink-haired man swore, and at that moment Sakura knew her mother was awesome.

"If you or another member of that damned clan _who I truly don't consider family_ touch a single naturally pink-haired child who was born in Konoha, try to take them unwillingly out of the village, deliberately try to cause them harm or order somebody to do it for you, _then every single bit of damage you deal to them will be felt by the instigator and perpetrator too," _Misa hissed, smearing her own blood down her arm. "_On my blood I swear."_

Sakura blinked at the sensation of her mother's chakra covering over her own. _She'd just done something, and Sakura had no idea what the hell that was. Would they be capable of that too? Whatever the hell it was?_

"Tch." He spat at the ground. "Well, I suppose that just means I'll have to hope you just told me the truth…"

"You shouldn't have underestimated me, bastard," Misa muttered.

He growled, kicking at the dirt. "No… but something tells me you would've unleashed that curse whether I did or not…" he said, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't change what comes next."

A small smile curved at Misa's lips. _A sad one. _"The Elders you follow have decided I'm a liability, haven't they?"

"So you already know what comes next then?"

The flicker of metal was all Sakura saw before the _redredredredredredred. _Maybe if she'd activated her sharingan she might've been able to see more of it – have the memory burnt into her brain. As it was, her sharingan activated too late, eyes burning as her mother crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from the jagged wound in her chest. Red seeped into the corner of her eyes, something far too hot to be tears trailing down her face. Her body reacted purely on instinct, hands clamping down over her sisters' mouths, muffling the twin shouts as she yanked them to the ground. It wasn't enough though.

"Huh?" A pink head of hair snapped around, green eyes catching sight of her two slightly smaller annoyingly brunette siblings. _She only had two hands and there were four of them with her_. "We can't be having witnesses…"

Sakura was on her feet in seconds, sharingan already tracking the movement of the two kunai sailing straight for her sisters. Her mind was made up in seconds. _She wasn't trusting her reaction times or the strength of her arms. Not if the slightest mistake could kill her sisters… Not if there was another way to protect them. _She dived in front of them, wincing as kunai thudded into her shoulder and side before she clattered to the dirty cobblestone.

"Fuck." The man swore. "Pink-haired… shit… that hurt…"

Footsteps sounded, growing closer, her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she grabbed hold of all four of her sisters. _They were in danger. She couldn't go home… not with two kunai in her back… she'd bleed out and scar her sisters half to death… _Her mind raced, adrenaline rushing through her, dulling the pain of the two kunai buried in her shoulder. _The hospital wasn't an option. _A rock clattered against the side of the alleyway, cast off by the boots approaching them. _He might be able to help them… but Sakura had no idea where he was… _Her chakra moved of its own volition, surging to her eyes, and then the world around her distorted, sucking them all into the darkness of the new dimension in her eyeball, the whispered word being the only clue as to what was happening. _"Kamui."_

The world blurred out of focus, and Sakura barely had time to realise she had no clue where they'd ended up before she fell the short distance to the wooden flooring, wincing at the loud thud both her and her sisters' bodies made. It was a very noisy thud, but the clatters of footsteps which came after it were just as unexpected as their odd destination. Whimpering at the twinge her shoulder gave whenever she moved it, she shuffled awkwardly to her triplets' sides, wiping the blood away from their faces, her eyes narrowing when she sensed their dangerously low chakra levels. _Her own were on the low side too, but she could deal with it. Her sisters were more important_. She hauled herself to Sora's side, face darkening when she sensed the same horribly low chakra levels. A quick look at the twins' faces revealed no blood. _So it was just the ordinary sharingan they'd awakened… unlike Akira and Mio… _Her eyes faded from red to black, a hand mussing through her hair as she fought the urge to swear. _How the fuck did… _Sakura blinked, staring at the clock as it beeped past midnight… _five-year-olds awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan? _

Sakura reigned in the laughter bubbling in her chest. _The universe just loved her. It really loved her. Happy birthday, Sakura. Happy fucking birthday._ She giggled, sitting back, her good side leaning against the base of the desk situated in the middle of the room as a key rattled in the lock of the door, voices sounding outside. _Clearly the blood loss was making her delirious. _

Her lungs felt oddly itchy, laughter trailing off as the door was slammed open, a horrifyingly familiar figure blocking the light from the doorway. _The universe loved traumatising her. _"What the hell happened here?" Uchiha Madara hissed, being shoved to the side seconds later as a familiar white-haired man burst into the room.

"I recognise that chakra signal…" Red eyes narrowed on her. "Sakura-chan… what the hell are you doing in my home office?"

"Oh… so that's where I am…" she slurred, the world fading in and out of focus as Tobirama hurried to each of her siblings, hands glowing with green chakra, and Sakura felt herself slump against the desk. _She'd been thinking of the white-haired Senju when Kamui had been activated…_

"Idiot child…" he muttered, shaking his head, as other notable figures from the history books appeared in the doorframe.

"Tobi…" Senju Hashirama peered through the doorway, sleeping cap on. "Tobi, what's going… oh dear…"

"Anija, stop standing there like a babbling buffoon!" Tobirama hissed. "Unless you want your favourite little gambling protegee to die, then you'd better get on with a damned chakra transfusion and make it snappy." He turned, red eyes locking on the spiky-haired figure nervously pacing back and forth, evidently clueless in the ways of medical ninjutsu. "Spots, carry the one I've finished with to the guest room. Clearly we're having a few guests over until morning…"

"Spots?" Madara squawked.

"Get on with it, Uchiha!"

"Only because the children are here, Senju," he hissed, picking up Sora with more care than Sakura thought possible.

Her eyes darted over to the other side of the room, blinking in surprise as she spotted the redhead crouched by Mio's side. Uzumaki Mito. _Her sisters were in good hands, _she realised, leaning heavily against the desk, feeling reasonably lightheaded, considering the amount of warm sticky blood dripping down her back. She sighed, blinking again, reminding herself she needed to stay awake just a little while longer. _Just a little longer… _Black eyes bore into her own, the face familiar – belonging to a man she knew far too well from her previous life, as well as being a larger version of the face she saw in the mirror every single morning. Sakura flinched back, wincing at how _soft _his voice was. _Nothing like the tone he'd used when battling her and the rest of Team Seven._

"Easy… easy there…" He held up his hands in the traditional civilian _I'm not going to do anything _pose_. _Of course, for shinobi, it was practically an _I'm ready to fire jutsu at you _pose, so it didn't help get rid of the shudders trembling through her undersized body in the slightest. "I'm not going to hurt you…" _The kind smile looked out of place on his lips. _Sakura shivered. _She remembered the twisted grin on his lips as he'd completed the Infinite Tsukuyomi. _His arms reached around her, ready to lift her, but just as quick as he'd placed his hands there, he removed them just as swiftly, eyeing the blood smeared across his palm. "Sh—ugar," he muttered. "I knew I smelt blood… Tobirama." He looked over at the sole other occupant of the room – Seiren being carried out by one Uzumaki Mito. "She's bleeding."

Tobirama hit the light switch, finally flooding the room in light, revealing the glinting kunai buried in her back. "You've got to be kidding," he muttered, clearing his desk with a sweep of his arm, throwing a sterile sheet over its surface. _Did he have everything in his office? _Sakura mused, the world spinning as she was placed down on the hard cool surface face-down. The sound of ripping fabric met her ears, her hoodie vanishing from her body as it was sliced away to allow access to the gaping wounds in her back. _Not that it mattered. It would have been ruined by the blood anyway. _"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"You were treating my sisters," she muttered, covering her face as best she could both with the table and her free arm. "Besides… it's just a minor flesh wound."

"Minor flesh wound my ar—backside," Tobirama hissed, bristling like a cat. "Pass me the damned disinfectant, Uchiha."

Sakura grunted, eyes widening at the sudden stinging sensation. "Fuck," she hissed.

"Language," two voices reprimanded.

"You don't happen to have a mask anywhere in your office… I dislike showing my face to people… just thought I'd get that out there while I'm still conscious… because I feel like I might be passing out in a few minutes," she muttered, peeking out from under her arm at the spinning room, blinking as a surgical mask was dangled by her face. "Thanks," she grunted, looping it around her ears, concealing her face as best as possible, glad she'd chosen to plait her hair before going out that night. Things would've been far worse for her if she hadn't.

Unless they removed her newly acquired mask and loosened her hair ties, they shouldn't have been able to see any resemblance between her and the damned Uchiha still in the room with her and the Senju whose brusque mannerisms were slowly growing on her like a sort of fungus. Her vision darkened, hands going limp as she slipped into blissful unconsciousness, with one thought ringing about her brain.

_Her mother was dead._ A tear slipped out of her closed eye. _She'd failed her family… again._


	13. Chapter 13: An Irritated Senju

Consciousness came back to her slowly, eyes cracking open slowly, wincing at the sheer light in the room. Wind blew through the open window, the breeze gentle, blocked by something on her face. Sakura sat up, heart pounding as she tried to recall _exactly where the hell she was. _Her heart pounded, teeth biting into her lip as the reality of the situation hit home. _She'd watched her mother die last night… and she hadn't been able to do a damned thing. _She pushed the tears back. _She wasn't going to cry again… not until she was alone and in a safe location… where her sisters wouldn't be able to see her cry. _She pushed the covers of the bed back, swinging her legs around to the side, blinking down at the bandages wrapped around her chest and shoulder – covering the wounds from the night before. She reached up for her hair, sighing in relief when she found it still safely secured in two messy plaits. Her Madara-ish hair was mostly safe – the top of her head was still as spiky and messy as per usual, but that was about it. The mask was still in place over the lower half of her face too, and Sakura was oddly alarmed at how many of her old sensei's habits she was seeming to pick up. _The lateness definitely wouldn't be something she'd adopt. She couldn't afford to be late. Not again. Never again._

She sighed, running a hand down her arm, pausing at the little plaster covering the crook of her elbow. _It certainly explained why she was feeling a lot better after only a few hours of rest. _Narrowing her eyes, she padded towards the door, noting the fact her shoes had been removed. The wood flooring was smooth, not a single splinter in sight, so there were no worries about that. Instead, she was far more worried about how her siblings were fairing. _Not to mention she needed to get Sora and Seiren in on the whole keep-the-sharingan-a-secret business. Especially since there was at least one Uchiha in the vicinity, provided Madara hadn't gone back to his home. Sakura assumed he didn't live with the Senju. He'd have probably blown up the house by then, if that were the case. _Yawning, she pulled the door open, peering down the corridor, eyes widening when she was picked up off the ground. Two adult-sized hands hefted her up to eye level, a voice soon informing her of who exactly had picked her up. "I see you haven't managed to pull your stitches then," Tobirama said, turning her so she faced him, adjusting his hold so he wasn't putting any pressure on her freshly stitched shoulder.

"I'm not an idiot, you know," she grumbled, looking pointedly away from him as he carried her away from the room.

Tobirama sighed, walking towards the sounds of voices. "I've yet to see an evidence to the contrary," he said, opening the door, revealing four familiar brown-haired figures.

"Saku-nee!"

"Nee-chan!"

She glared up at Tobirama. "Put me down."

"They look like they're about to pounce, and need I remind you that you have _stitches _in," he said, staring down at her flatly. "I'd prefer not to have to redo them again, and I don't particularly want to get blood over the carpet… pure lands know you got enough on my desk as it is…"

"Rude," she muttered.

Izuna materialised behind her sisters – when and how he'd gotten there, Sakura didn't know – hooking a finger under each of the collars of their shirts, holding them back as Tobirama set her on the ground carefully. "Now, I know you munchkins all love your big sister a lot, but right now she's a bit injured… so keep the tackling and the tight crushing hugs to a minimum, OK?"

Seiren burst into tears, Sora looking guiltily at the floor, eyes watering. "Our fault…" they muttered. "Our fault nee-chan got hurt…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tobirama asked, staring between all the occupants of the room, as if one of the actual adults in the living space would have an answer to his question. Mito was sitting on the floor just behind her four siblings, evidently having just been interacting with the lot of them. Hashirama was sprawled out on the sofa beside his wife, looking between the situation at hand and the newspaper unfurled across his lap. Sakura glanced at the last occupant of the room, scowling at the spiky head of hair. _Why did he have to be there too? _She hated Uchiha Madara with a passion. It didn't matter he hadn't done anything to her in her new life, aside from be a minor annoyance. All that mattered were the memories his visage brought rushing back to the surface. Memories she'd rather bury in the deepest parts of her brain.

"Idiots," Sakura hissed, storming towards her sisters, scowling as they hung their heads in shame. "I chose to jump in front of you." She prodded their foreheads viciously, uncaring as they winced – _they deserved it for being stupid. _"It was my choice. _Mine. _I made the damn decision, and I knew the consequences." She poked them again. "And if you don't want it to happen again, then you need to stop crying and get stronger," she huffed, folding her arms, blinking as her ribs were suddenly being crushed to death despite Tobirama's protests.

"What is with pink… wait, why the hell did you four dye your hair? Never mind." Tobirama scowled. "Let me check your damned stitches," he muttered, brushing her siblings away despite their teary eyes staring at him pleadingly. "I swear… if you pull them, or do anything else idiotic, then I will drag you back to your puny little apartment and have your parents put you on bedrest until the damned academy exams."

At the mention of parents the room went dead still, little sniffles sounding from the twins at the mention of their mother. _They lived in the dodgiest area of Konoha, and unfortunately that meant they all knew what blood and death was. _Still, it didn't stop Akira from fumbling for her wrist, tugging on her hand nervously. "Kaa-chan will be there when we go back to our actual home, won't she?" Akira's eyes were watering, lips quivering as she smiled tentatively. "She'll be there… she has to be… who else is going to bake us our special cake…"

Mio sobbed, covering her face with her arms. "Too much…" she mumbled, and Sakura winced, silently remembering the large pool of blood which had formed around their mother's still body. "Too much blood…"

Izuna flitted between her and the twins, concern written across his face. _He was oddly expressive for an Uchiha, unlike the lump sitting on the armchair—wait, scratch that. Madara's face was weirdly expressive too. _Sakura sighed. _She'd just thought the only setting for that man's face was unholy glee or anger as his plans all fell into place. _

She pulled Akira closer, hating herself as her sister finally broke into tears, soaking her shoulder. "Kaa-chan can't be gone…" she whispered, and Sakura petted her long straight locks, for once not jealous of their silky texture. "She can't."

"But she is…" Sakura mumbled, ignoring all the eyes she could feel drilling into her skull, pushing down the odd cough she could feel building in her lungs. She ruffled Akira's hair, smiling behind her mask, eyes crinkling up in the corners. _She was doing a Kakashi smile… what was her life coming to? _"Don't worry though…" Akira pulled back, staring up at her with those large black eyes of hers, confusion written across her face. "I'll take care of everything from now on."

"But nee-chan…"

"Shhh," she mumbled, pulling her back into a hug. "It'll be OK… don't worry…"

"Is nobody else going to ask what the hell is going on?" Madara asked, glancing around at the rest of them. "_Seriously?_ It sounds like somebody just died!"

"Congratulations on figuring that one out, genius," Sakura muttered, annoyance replaced by worry seconds later as her sister slumped into her, sobs turning into soft snores.

Tobirama snickered at his face for a few moments, expression sobering up as he met her glare – reminded of the situation at hand.

"Dammit, Senju," Madara snarled, oblivious to the fluxing mood. "You've infected her!"

"Aki…" Sakura stared at her sleeping sister, biting her lip. _Why had she just suddenly fallen asleep? Was there something wrong with her still? Chakra exhaustion?_

"Relax." A hand patted her head, Tobirama staring down at her unflinchingly with those ruby eyes of his. "She's still just a bit tired from using all that chakra last night… speaking of which… seeing as all your sisters are now taking a nap… I think it's time you explained what the hell happened last night, and how the hell you got into my damned office." He folded his arms.

Sakura glanced at the odd sort of puppy pile the other three of her siblings had formed, carrying Akira over, settling her down gently, smiling slightly as she curled up against Sora. _They were adorable… and they needed her protection more than ever. _The smile dropped from her face. _Their mother was dead… _Her hands curled into fists, nails digging into her palm. _She was a failure. _Her fingers dug in deeper. _Too weak._

"Idiot child," Tobirama hissed. "Nails pick up a lot of bacteria…" He grabbed her by the wrist, and Sakura blinked, finally noticing the blood dribbling from one of her hands. "Come on."

Izuna sighed behind them, hovering over the rest of her siblings in the room. "I see his mother hen tendencies haven't changed in the slightest…"

Madara snorted. "Pot. Kettle. Black."

She was dragged away from the living room and back into a familiar office – the bloodstain on the floor left little doubt as to that. _She'd only bled against one desk and floor in the house. _She blinked, wincing in the next second as her wound was disinfected and bandaged up. _He couldn't heal her up with chakra. Too much chakra-based healing wasn't good for kids of her physical age… which was why he was probably waiting a few weeks to take her stitches out and finish healing up the rest of her wounds. _Sakura gritted her teeth, squirming under his intent gaze. _He wanted answers, and Sakura had the distinct impression she wouldn't be leaving until he got them. _She glanced to the side, determined to not let him see the look of shame written across her face. "Kaa-san… died last night…" she muttered. _She wasn't quick enough… not strong enough… _"We… were there…"

"I see…" he said, evidently smart enough to work out exactly what had been left unsaid – she'd been injured by kunai. It was unlikely their mother had a peaceful death. "My office?"

Sakura shrugged. "You were the only person I could think of who'd be able to help…" she said, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the bookshelf to her left. "It was kind of a blur…"

Tobirama sighed, clearly knowing he wouldn't be getting anything else out of her no matter how hard he pried. _She could be stubborn like that_. "I suppose I'll have seven odd years to wheedle the truth out of you," he muttered, shaking his head at her.

"Huh?"

He smiled. "I am in charge of the academy, you know." He folded his arms, smirking at her dawning look of horror. "Which means should you pass the admissions test in a few weeks, and somehow I have no doubts you will, you'll be in my care until you turn twelve and graduate from the academy."

"Can't I graduate before that?" she asked, shrinking back under the smile he was sending her way – the one that said he'd pry out all her secrets without leaving a single one undisturbed. _She was doomed. Totally doomed._

Tobirama shook his head. "No. It's a mandatory law. No academy student is allowed to graduate earlier than twelve."

Her stomach dropped to her toes. _No way was her resemblance to Madara going unnoticed for seven years. That was far too long._

The sound of a door slamming open interrupted her oncoming pity party, her head snapping around to look at the small brunette who'd charged into the room. It wasn't any one of her sisters though. Her hair was too reddish for that, her eyes too narrow, lips too thin. "Oji-san, what's going on?" she asked, glaring at her before she moved her gaze onto her apparent uncle.

Sakura already didn't like the girl. _In fact she wanted to punch her… _Her shoulders sunk. _It seemed her impulse control and tendency for violence hadn't changed in the slightest… though maybe that was a good thing? _

"Some weird girls are sleeping on the sofa, and tou-san says I have to be nice to them when they wake up," the girl said with a huff, folding her arms in a strop.

"My sisters aren't weird!" Sakura hissed, glaring venomously at her.

"Are too!" the slightly older girl said, hands on hips. "Who sleeps on someone else's sofa in the middle of the day?"

"Injured people!" Sakura muttered, folding her arms, stomping towards the girl, ignoring the loud sigh from Tobirama behind her. "That's who!"

"They didn't look injured… are you lying?" She peered down at her. "But you're the weirdest one," she said matter-of-factly. "Who walks shirtless around someone else's house? That's just rude," she huffed, glaring down at her, using her twenty centimetres of extra height to her advantage.

Sakura snarled, fist moving before she could stop it, slamming into the other girl's face with enough force to break her nose. _She was having a bad day, and so she had zero tolerance for idiotic brats who needed a damn good slapping. Sakura didn't slap people though… not anymore. Slapping was for weak girls. Punching was far more her style, even if she might never achieve the same level of strength she had before – Obito had ruined her chakra control. Not by a large fraction, but it was enough. _

"Idiot child…" Tobirama hissed. "Now you've done it…"

_Done what, _Sakura wanted to ask, but the two small hands that clamped down on her shoulders and the stars in the small black eyes were enough of an answer.

"You broke my nose!" she said, a bright grin on her face.

"Eh?" Sakura stared incredulously at the cheerful girl. _It was like a switch had been flipped. _"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Believe me," Tobirama muttered behind her, "I've asked myself the same question many times."

"I'm Renka," she said, ignoring the crotchety man with a practiced ease. "What's your name, rival?"

"Sakura…" she mumbled, blinking dizzily at the sudden change in the girl's – Renka's – attitude. "Wait a minute…" she hissed. "Rival? What the hell do you mean by that? When did I even agree to that?" Sakura supressed the shiver threatening to run down her spine. _She was becoming more and more like her old sensei… what joke was the universe playing on her this time around? _Her face darkened, but the bright grin on Renka's face pulled her away from the emotions threatening to overwhelm her. _Oh… _Sakura blinked. _She was still wearing the mask… covering half her face like Kakashi-sensei… _Her heart panged. _She missed her Kakashi-sensei… but that version of him was gone – never to return. _

"You're not like the others," Renka said, chattering up a storm, gripping her hands in her own, pulling her back and forth in her excitement. "Everyone in my academy class is either weak or boring… you're neither, which means you have to be my rival, Sakura-chan!" She grinned. "Tou-san has a rival, and so does Gai-sensei… so I've been looking for one too. I've always wanted a good rival, like Madara-oji is to tou-san…" She bounced up and down on her feet _just like Akira… just like Naruto… _"You wear a mask like Gai-sensei said his rival does… you're probably just as hip and cool… and you have fluffy hair like Madara-oji… You're perfect!"

Sakura fought against the blush threatening to rise in her cheeks, silently grateful she was wearing a mask. _Nobody had ever called her perfect before. _"Hn," she grumbled, eyes widening as Renka wrapped her wrist in a vicelike grip, dragging her out of the office and back towards the living room despite her many protests.

"Tou-san! Tou-san!" Renka yelled, staring right at one Senju Hashirama. _Of course… _Sakura mused. _She just had to punch the daughter of the First Hokage in the face… _

"Rena-chan," Hashirama said, smiling widely until he spotted the blood leaking down from her broken nose. "What happened to your face?" He was on his feet in seconds, reaching out to snap her nose back into place, hands glowing green. Renka didn't even flinch. _Sakura still silently wondered what the hell was wrong with the girl. _

"It's OK…" Renka grinned. "It didn't even hurt that much."

Sakura sputtered. _What the hell was she made out of?_

"But tou-san," she said, glancing back at Sakura, grip still tight on her wrist. "Can we keep her?"

Sakura choked, face reddening in indignation. "I'm not something you can keep, idiot!" she snarled, desperately trying to free herself from the surprisingly strong grip the little eight-year-old had. _She didn't particularly want to break something else of Renka's with her chakra enhanced strength. _

"She broke my nose, so from today on she's my rival… my _eternal _rival…" Her eyes sparkled. "Tobi-oji… you can put her in the same class as me, can't you? Wait." She spun back to face her. "You are in the academy, aren't you, Sakura-chan? You have to be, with a punch like that! It was so hip and cool!"

"Izuna." Madara glanced over at his brother. "When did Gai-san last teach the advanced class at the academy?"

Izuna sighed. "Yesterday."

Madara glanced at the pair of them yet again. "Well… I guess that explains it…"

"Wait a minute… rewind a bit…" Hashirama held up his head, black eyes fixing on Sakura's own. "You broke my daughter's nose?" He pouted. "Why would you do that?"

"She was being annoying." Sakura folded her arms, refusing to back down in the slightest. _She'd be stronger than him one day. She had a flipping sharingan and she could already throw trees around. There was no way she'd lose… not once she'd grown up a bit… reached heights she hadn't before, quite literally. Maybe she wouldn't be as short that time around… maybe she'd have a bit more of a figure too. _She shook her head, yanking herself out of those dangerous thoughts. _Heights and figures weren't supposed to matter to her that much anymore. She was there to ensure the same thing that happened to her last world didn't happen to her new one._

"Nobody's ever broken my nose before… not deliberately or so easily," Renka said, throwing her arms into the air. "It's a sign!" she yelled, ignorant of Tobirama shaking his head in the background muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _'like father like daughter…' _"Besides, tou-san," she said, wrapping her arms around Sakura's chest. "You have Madara-oji. You can't have my rival too, no matter how fluffy and spiky her hair is!" Renka nuzzled against her hair, glaring at her father. "She's _my _rival now."

"But Rena-chan—"

"Shut up, tou-san!"

Hashirama slunk back, curling in on himself as a dark cloud seemed to loom above him. "My daughter hates me…" he muttered, pout firmly fixed on his face, at least until Madara went and kicked him off the sofa.

"Stop moping, idiot!" he hissed. "You're just being stupid. Of course your daughter still loves you… imbecile. She's just excited over finding a friend. Don't spoil it for her."

Sakura sighed, silently wishing she was back home instead of being caught up in the drama that was Senju-Uchiha relations. _Her other sisters might be getting worried… Hopefully Tomoe would be able to keep them occupied a bit longer. Tomoe seemed more liable to panic compared to… kaa-chan… _She blinked, feeling herself being pulled upwards by a pair of hands. Hashirama and Madara were busy sorting themselves out, Mito was drinking her tea, and Tobirama was staring across the room in exasperation… which meant there was only one person it could be. Scowling as she was spun around, she glared right into those black eyes examining her curiously.

"Shucks," Izuna mumbled. "Shame you don't have red eyes or something… you don't really look like Tobi… and your hair is fluffy and spiky… I'd have thought it'd be silky and spiky, more like the rest of your siblings and whitey over there." He pulled her closer, eyeing her half concealed face, and Sakura finally engaged her defensive manoeuvres. She lashed out with her stubby fingers, poking him in the eyes, a satisfied smirk on her lips as he reeled backwards. "But you certainly act just like that Senju git," he muttered. "Ow."

"Put me down," she grumbled, folding her arms.

"Happily," he muttered, setting her down carefully on the floor, blinking furiously. "Dammit that hurt."

"Pssh." Sakura snorted. "Then you shouldn't go around picking up kids you aren't related to."

"Senju, are you sure you've never slept with any black eyed, pink-haired women and accidentally procreated?" Izuna asked, raising an eyebrow as he stared between the two of them. "Clearly she looks just like her mother, but the attitude is all her father…" He looked pointedly at Tobirama, and Sakura rolled her eyes.

_Thankfully he had no idea they all had the sharingan, otherwise it'd limit the pool of possible sperm donors, and he'd probably feel honour bound to work out who the hell had fathered them._

"Nu uh," Akira's voice came as a surprise, her head snapping around to fix on the sleepy form of the youngest of her triplet group. "Nee-chan doesn't look much like kaa-chan…" She hiccupped, tears in her eyes. "Kaa-chan… Kaa-chan used to say Saku-nee looked most like our tou-san… whoever the hell he was."

"Wait." Izuna stared between them. "You don't know who your father is?"

Sakura shook her head, silently congratulating herself on keeping her hair out of its resting spiky style and covering her face with a mask. _It'd be horribly obvious which clan she'd be related to. Obito's DNA was the only Uchiha she could be closely related to, considering the jutsu he'd used to transport her over. Sure he'd had the cells of Senju Hashirama implanted in him, but other than that it was all him… She remembered him, staring at her, one rinnegan and sharingan spinning dangerously, a smile on his lips as he completed the final hand seal and the markings at her feet had lit up… _Sakura froze. _He'd had a rinnegan and a sharingan. Obito had never awoken the rinnegan… meaning he'd had Madara's DNA in his eye socket… _Sakura swallowed. _There'd been a larger proportion of Obito's DNA to Madara's… he'd had more Hashirama cells compared to that eye… The universe couldn't hate her that much, could it? _She shook her head. _There was a slim likelihood… but she'd be more likely to be directly related to Obito. That was right. She had to be related to Obito. There was no other option._

"Kaa-chan…" Akira's voice wobbled. "Kaa-chan never told us anything about him."

Sakura scoffed, wandering over to pat her sister on the head. "We don't need to know anything about him. We've got better things to be doing than looking for him."

"But you do have someone who'll be looking after you, right?" Izuna stared at her, and she could feel Tobirama's gaze boring into her back.

"Yeah." She nodded. "And we should probably get home. Wouldn't want oba-san to start worrying too much…" she said, deliberately leaving out the fact Tomoe wasn't their actual aunt… but she'd take care of them, blood relation or not. She owed it to Misa. They'd been friends. Tomoe had looked after them on occasion. _She wouldn't even need to do much. _Sakura could take care of all of her sisters, no matter what. _Nothing needed to change… not to mention no orphanage would take all ten of them. They'd be split up if anyone found out. _Her expression darkened. _Nobody could split them up. They were sisters. They were her sisters. Hers. Not anybody else's… so nobody else could have them._ She rubbed at her chest. The itch in her lungs was getting worse. _She was probably coming down with a cold of something. _She coughed, accepting the glass of water pressed into her hands seconds later, drinking a sip.

"There's a few weeks left until the exams," Tobirama said, folding his arms as he stared down at her. "Try to keep out of trouble, brat," he grumbled. "Now, who wants to help carry the kids back home?" He glanced back at the room, pointedly ignoring the hand Izuna was sticking up in the air.

Sakura hurried over to where her sisters lay, quickly picking Akira up, hefting her up onto her back. _They'd only need two or three adults to carry to rest of her siblings, which meant a lesser chance of Uchiha Madara tagging along. _

"You have stitches in you back," Tobirama hissed.

"I can carry my sister back," Sakura said, glaring up at him. "She's not that heavy."

"If you pull them, I will drag you back, stitch you up again and tell your oba-san not to let you out of the house for the next three weeks… so help me, don't test me…"

Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"Brat," he muttered, rolling his eyes as his niece's voice sounded.

"Awww," Renka groaned. "You're taking my rival home?"

Sakura shivered, finally understanding her sensei's pain. _Having a determined rival was a terrifying ordeal. _She shuddered. _The random challenges would come next… or perhaps the occasional spar or two. _Either way, Sakura knew she'd have to improve her training. _She refused to lose to some slip of an eight-year-old. She was an adult. She couldn't lose._

"I wanna see where Sakura-chan lives," Renka declared, pointing at her. "Then we can invite her to morning training." She jumped up and down. "I wanna train with my rival! So she can break my nose again!"

"Do you enjoy being hurt or something?" Sakura muttered, edging away from the overenthusiastic girl, certain that she was in a far worse situation than Kakashi-sensei ever had been. _At least Gai-sensei hadn't been some sort of masochist… Wait… _Sakura paused, mulling over everything she knew about her sensei and his eternal rival. _Actually, she probably didn't know enough to say anything about their weird relationship. Besides, now apparently she had a weird relationship of her own to focus on._

"Tou-san," Renka continued, oblivious to her question. "Carry me."

Hashirama beamed, picking up his daughter, earlier sadness forgotten. "Where to?"

"I'm not sure it's a place appropriate for Renka-chan to go…" Tobirama said, settling Sora down on his back, her head resting on his shoulder. _Too bad for him that both the twins drooled in their sleep. _

Sakura shook her head. "It's fine. We don't live there anymore. It's closer to the edges of_ that_ district… an apartment block," she said, silently wondering why the hell she'd just told him that. _Well, it was a bit embarrassing to admit they live—used to live above a brothel. _Nobody aside from Izuna and Tobirama needed to know that. _She hated the assumptions people made. The last thing she needed were people saying she'd be good at seduction._

"I'll take the smaller mini-me," Izuna said, a strange edge to his voice as he picked up Seiren, staring intently down at her as he cradled her in his arms like a baby. "None of you know who your fathers are, do you?"

"No," Sakura said, bristling like a cat, hackles rising as he kept staring down at her sister. _Seiren looked an awful lot like him, but that was just the Uchiha blood talking. Nothing else. None of them could be related to the man-child that was Uchiha Izuna. _"Now stop looking at my sister like that, unless you'd rather swap."

"No. I'm going to carry… wait, what's this one's name?" Izuna looked at her pleadingly. _Awfully similar to how Seiren looked when she did that expression. _Sakura shook her head. She didn't need to be thinking about things like that. _There were more important things to worry about._

"Seiren. Her name's Seiren," she grumbled.

"I guess I'll take this one then," Madara said, cradling Mio in his arms… _and wasn't that a sight she never thought she'd see in her life. Uchiha Madara carefully carrying a small pink-haired child. _Sakura resisted the urge to laugh manically. She didn't particularly want Tobirama or Izuna to think she had something wrong with her… _or that she was Uchiha. They had a penchant for crazy maniacal laughs. _"Why are you glaring at me? I'm just going to carry your sister home, miniature Kakashi…"

"Hn."

"You're hanging out around Sasuke-chan far too much," Izuna mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her. "Oh… Tobi… don't you have a shirt or jacket or something to give her?" he asked, looking pointedly at her bandaged chest. "She can't go outside like that – she'll freeze!"

"Give me a minute," Tobirama grumbled, setting Sora back down on the sofa. "I nearly forgot. She's not even shivering."

Sakura rolled her eyes. _Of course she wouldn't shiver. She was a baby shinobi-in-training, and she knew how to use her chakra to her advantage. _Sighing, she set Akira back down gently, knowing she'd no doubt have something to finally put over her bandaged back.

A thick soft fabric landed on her head, and she reached up to pull it off, blinking as she spotted the dark high collared shirt, the Kakashi-like mask, and the black hoodie – practically an exact replica of the one she'd had before, only better quality.

"Go and get changed already," Tobirama said, jerking his head in what Sakura presumed to be the direction to the bathroom. "They were just some things we had lying around."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So that's why they all still have the tags in…"

Izuna snickered. "She got you there, snowman. You do care… how sweet…"

"Shut up, Izuna."

Sakura hurried out of the room, darting into the bathroom, swiftly pulling on the mask and shirt. She scowled into the mirror, noting how Uchiha she looked with the damned high collar. _What was it with Uchiha and high collared shirts? _She yanked the hoodie on, careful not to aggravate her stitches too much. She was going to have to be careful about them until he removed them. She didn't particularly want to get put on bedrest. _She'd just have to limit her exercising… particularly of her upper body, just until the stitches were healed._ Sighing, she ensured her mask was fixed in place, tucking the surgical mask into her pocket for later use. _It was always better to hang onto things like that._

Tobirama looked over at her as she walked back in, one white brow raised, daring her to complain as he stood there, holding both Akira and Sora in his arms.

"I could've carried her," she grumbled, folding her arms.

"Shut up and show us where to take you and your sisters," he ordered, glaring at her with those ruby red eyes of his. "We do have other things to be doing today you know."

"I really hadn't guessed," she muttered, climbing out the nearest window, not wanting to bother trying to locate the front door in the maze of a house. They followed like the excellent ninja they were, continuing to do so until they reached the rooftops. Sakura peered around the unfamiliar rooftops, searching around for anything which looked vaguely familiar to her. She'd used kamui to take them to Tobirama's office, so she had zero idea of where to go from there. The damned Senju was probably still trying to figure out just how she'd broken into his office, so revealing she had no clue where she was probably wasn't the greatest idea. _It'd only give him ideas – theories, and apparently her former world's Second Hokage had been good at narrowing those down. _Fortunately, she was on the highest rooftop available, so scouting out where her new house was wasn't too hard. She'd used the rooftops around the red light district often enough that she was well acquainted with them, so it only took her a few minutes to locate them. _She could almost see the majority of Konoha from her vantagepoint. _

"So, rival," Renka called, interrupting her right before she was about to jump. "Tobi-oji said you weren't in the academy yet… How old are you? You have to be younger, right? It's not like you chose _not _to go to the academy."

"I'm five," she mumbled, bounding across to the next rooftop with a skilful application of chakra.

"Right on the age you can join…" Renka mumbled, practically vibrating with excitement on her father's shoulders even as Hashirama started a random conversation with the current bane of her existence. "Awesome."

"Huh… You were four last time I checked," Tobirama said, glancing at her. "I was worried you wouldn't make it in time for the cut-off date and I'd have to make an exception…"

"When are all your birthdays?" Izuna leant forwards, curious as she continued to lead them towards her current residence.

"The twins here have their birthday next Friday," she said, tilting her head. "The other triplets—"

Izuna choked. "Other triplets?"

"Yeah." Sakura stared at him blankly. "Kaa-chan… she had two sets of twins and two sets of triplets."

"So there are ten of you…" Tobirama blinked. "That's a pretty big family…"

"Problem?"

"No, just interesting to know," he said, shrugging. "Most families nowadays don't tend to be as big as that."

"So, the other set of triplets had their birthday two weeks ago, on a Monday… They turned three… and then the youngest twins had their second birthday two weeks before that." Sakura tapped her chin. "That's about it. We were all born around the same time in the year…"

"What about yours?" Izuna glanced at her. "You didn't mention that."

"Today." She sighed.

"Huh?" Renka perked up, peering at her intently with those terrifyingly earnest eyes. "Your birthday is today? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's not that big of a deal," she said, staring intently at her destination. "Besides… I doubt we'll celebrate it much in the next few years." _It'd be the anniversary of their mother's death. _Izuna vanished from her side, taking Seiren with him. "Where's he going?" she questioned, biting her lip as she worried. _She didn't like it when her sisters vanished. _

"Probably to do something stupid, but he'll be back, don't you worry," Tobirama muttered, rolling his eyes. "Just focus on running and ideally not pulling your stitches."

Sakura sighed exasperatedly. _He kept going on and on about her stitches. _

"For crying out loud, Hashirama, stop moping," Madara hissed. "I swear if you make your daughter pick up your mood swings, I will throw you in the koi pond _before _it's due for a cleaning."

"Just ignore them," Tobirama said from her side. "They're both idiots, and it'll lower your IQ just listening to them." She shrugged, racing to land on the roof of Tomoe's apartment block, blinking as Tobirama handed her the key that's been in her old hoodie pocket. "I believe this is what you're looking for."

"Thanks."

The door opened with a small click, the sound of small feet padding against the floor seconds later. Silently, Sakura braced herself, a small smile creeping on her lips underneath her mask. Her siblings were so adorable. Three bodies slammed into her, arms wrapped around her as heads piled into her chest, each topped with oddly familiar brunette hair.

"Nee-chan! You're back!" Yumi said, snuggling into her, as she stood in the doorway, Tobirama having helped keep her upright under her sister's combined weight.

"Oba-chan told us we'd be staying here forever," Tora mumbled. "She said everything'd be OK… Oh, and she made you and the others breakfast." She folded her arms. "We all helped!"

Sakura smiled, ruffling their hair.

"Saku-nee…" Ran pulled on her sleeve. "Will kaa-chan ever wake up?"

Her eyes narrowed, arms coming around to pull Ran up into a hug, already figuring out what Tomoe had told them. _Their kaa-san had gone to sleep… and she wouldn't be waking up_. "Kaa-san loves us very much, but she'll be asleep for a very long time."

Ran pouted. "But it's your birthday… kaa-chan should be here…"

Sakura poked her forehead. "It's OK." She smiled. "It's not kaa-san's fault, and I don't mind. It's enough for all of you to be here…"

"Nee-chan!" Yumi tugged on her hoodie. "Who're they?" she asked, pointing at the adults carrying their sisters. "Their faces look a bit familiar. Oh! From the books… kaa-chan… was helping you read for the test thingy."

"They're the ones who helped bring the rest of our sisters back home," she said, bringing Yumi's attention back to the sleeping brown-haired children being carried into their home. "Don't mind them. They'll be going soon."

"What happened to Akira-nee and Mio-nee?" Tora stared at her, worry on her small face.

"They'll be fine. They just got a bit tired last night, that's all," she said, ignoring the gazes burning into her back.

"Sakura-chan, where can we put them?" Tobirama asked, holding up Sora and Akira pointedly.

"Bedroom's through there." She pointed at their bedroom door before hurrying over to the fridge, quickly finding the breakfast Tomoe had set aside for their return. _She'd have to start making lunch soon… It was nearly one o'clock already…_

"So this is where my rival lives…" Renka mumbled, padding around the small apartment, evidently having been set down. "I'll come get you for morning—"

Hashirama interrupted her, patting her head, ruffling her hair, like Sakura did her siblings. "Not while she's got her stitches, Rena-chan, otherwise I think Tobi will be fretting about—"

"I _do not _fret!" Tobirama hissed.

"Hn." Madara folded his arms, walking back into the main room. "You totally do, Senju… speaking of fretting though… where's that idiot brother of mine?"

Izuna hurried into the apartment, Seiren safely bundled up in his arms. "Right here."

"Give her to me," Madara grumbled, holding out his arms for Seiren, glancing at her curiously as she was handed over to him. "I'll go tuck her in."

Sakura nearly spluttered. _He'd just tucked her sisters in? That was what he was doing in there instead of arguing with Tobirama? What was the world coming to? _She cleared the side as best she could, trying to wipe those thoughts from her brain, ready to start lunch preparations as soon as their guests left. Blinking, she stared at the strange book left on the kitchen counter. Shifting the step over, she went and picked up the odd book. _It didn't look like a recipe book…_

"Oh, that's kaa-chan's diary," Tora said, looking at the oddly heavy book. "Tomoe-oba brought it over."

Her eyes narrowed. "I see…" _That was certainly something she'd be reading, if only to find more clues about what the hell was going on… and possibly who their fathers were. She just needed to confirm things… for her own peace of mind._

"Sakura-chan."

She spun, blinking as she found Izuna crouching right behind her, holding out a black ribbon.

"Happy birthday."

Sakura stumbled back, nearly falling on her backside in shock. _Why the hell had he got her a present? Sure, it was some nice ribbon – not all that expensive – but she was just some random kid he'd barely known for a few days at most. They hadn't interacted all that much… unless he'd figured it out already. _She swallowed, only able to watch as he set down numerous other pieces of ribbon on the kitchen counter.

"I got some for you and all the rest of your siblings… didn't want them feeling left out."

She turned sharply on her heel, ears burning. _She'd never got a present in her new world… and her first one turned out to be a ribbon… just like the one Ino had gotten her all those years ago…_

"Uh… Sakura-chan?"

She spun back to face him, glad her mask was concealing the majority of her blush. "Hn," she grunted, arms folded. "I suppose you're alright for an Uchiha."

Izuna smiled, standing back up.

"Dammit, Izuna-oji!" Renka scowled. "You're showing me up!"

"Don't worry about it," Sakura said, sighing exasperatedly. "You only met me this morning… besides, I won't ever be able to get you a present… not till we graduate, anyway."

"But…"

"Come on, Renka-chan," Tobirama mumbled. "We need to be getting back…" He turned to face her. "But you'd best not pull your stitches… though if you do, you know where we live now. Use the front door next time. I don't need any more of your blood in my office."

"Blood?" Ran tilted her head, eyes fixing on her seconds later. "Saku-nee was hurt?"

"I'm fine now, Ran-chan," she said, prodding her sister's forehead. "Come on. I need to make you all lunch."

_Making lunch was something she could do. She could busy herself with that. _Smiling slightly, staring down at the black ribbon in her hands as she shut the door behind her unwanted guests, she threw herself into making lunch – keeping herself busy for the rest of the day as best she could, keeping her coughing to as much of a minimum as she could. _She didn't want her sisters catching whatever it was she'd caught_. It was late night by the time she finished all that she needed to do. _Tomoe-oba hadn't come back. _Sakura pushed down the fear rising in her chest. _She was just taking care of things, that was all. _Glancing over at the bedroom door, she pushed the window open, walking up the outside wall with a judicious application of chakra. She settled down on the roof, quietly listening to the sounds of the hustle and bustle of night-time Konoha. The moon was high in the sky, its light beautiful, catching on the trails of tears streaking down her cheeks. _She'd failed… after everything she'd promised herself… promised Naruto…_

A hand in her hair had her stiffening, black eyes spinning around to glare into the matching black ones that made her glad she'd kept the plaits in and the mask on.

_Izuna._

"It's OK to cry, Sakura-chan."

She scowled. "I'm not crying there's just—"

"Some dirt in your eye, right?"

Sakura felt herself flush, looking away pointedly. "What are you even doing here?" she grumbled.

"You basically admitted to watching your mother's murder… and we still don't know anything about the killer – we can't trust your accounts. You're too young, and you said everything's a blur." He looked sideways. "You really think me and Tobi wouldn't keep an eye on you?"

"I'll be fine." _She was not pouting._

"Nobody said you wouldn't be," Izuna said, sighing. "Now go and get some rest, silly girl. We'll keep an eye on things out here…"


	14. Chapter 14: Diaries and Clues

Her training was light and mostly focused on her lower body. She probably would've tried to train some more, considering her sisters usually woke around ten and it was only seven o'clock, but the unexpected guests made her pause. _Well, it was more like they made her stop by practically lifting her off the ground and inspecting her from head to toe._

"We overheard Madara-sama and Izuna-sama talking about a Sakura-chan," Shisui said, inspecting her bandages, adjusting his hold on her so as not to injure her further. "Let's just say we heard some worrying things."

"Sakura-chan… Shisui isn't hurting you too much, is he?" Itachi stared at her unblinkingly, something akin to worry in his eyes.

"We can't have our adorable baby Ita—wait, why do you look like Kakashi-senpai?" Shisui blinked, inspecting her masked face, curiosity and a slight bit of jealousy flashing across his expression. "Imitate me next!"

"Eh?" Sakura blinked.

"You're imitating all the geniuses of Konoha right?" He placed her back down, crouching down in front of her. "You've done Itachi, and now you're doing Kakashi… so next on the list clearly has to be—"

"Sakura-chan, shall we go and get dango?" Itachi asked, tilting his head. "My treat."

"Sounds good," she mumbled, tucking her hands into her pockets. "I'll treat you sometime after I've graduated," she muttered, staring at the ground. _Sometimes she hated her financial situation. As a Haruno she'd have been able to afford going out to eat occasionally…_

"Hey!" Shisui pouted. "Don't ignore me!" He slumped, hurrying to catch up with them as they walked towards Itachi's favourite dango store. "You two are so mean… you know that, right?"

Itachi glanced back at him, eyebrow raised. "Really?"

"Hn." Sakura looked back at him, face concealed by her hood.

Shisui caught up to them, walking alongside them as they strolled silently through the half-dead streets of Konoha. Brightly coloured storefronts, bright lights, teahouses, coffee shops, convenience stores. They were all familiar to her by now, and they brought an odd sense of comfort whenever she saw them. _Probably because it meant Kaguya hadn't happened… and Sakura doubted she would for a while, if at all… Madara was on Konoha's side in this dimension. _She kicked at a stone, scowling at the thought of the Uchiha. To say she disliked him would be an understatement. _But she hated Zetsu more… but did Zetsu even exist in her new world? Was that the ripple?_

"I think we'd best hurry…" Shisui said, looking away from her. "What if they're all sold out already?"

Sakura shot him a sceptical look. "It's seven in the morning… what kind of store would they be if they've sold out already?"

"A good one." He patted her head, swiping his hand away before she could even think about biting him again.

"You're going to lose that hand one day," she grumbled, reminding herself silently that she'd have to braid her hair up every day beneath her hood if she wanted to keep her Madara locks out of sight and out of mind. There were far too many head pats to be safe.

Shisui winked. "You'd have to be a lot faster for that to happen… and sadly I think you'll have outgrown head pats by then… maybe I'll just have to poke your forehead—"

Sakura and Itachi glared at him in unison.

"What?" he complained. "It's a sacred bond of brotherhood—"

Sakura cleared her throat pointedly.

"—or sisterhood, I'm not forgetting you Saku-chan," he said hurriedly. "And we're _like _awesomely close friends now… close enough to be brothers."

Sakura cleared her throat again.

One black eyebrow rose. "Saku-chan, are you coming down with a cold or something?"

"_I will murder you in your sleep!_"

"Awww, there's the Saku-chan we know and love." He patted her head, snickering at her attempt to bite him. "You know, sometimes I forget we only met you a few months back."

"You fit in well with us," Itachi mumbled, quickly ordering three sets of dango, handing one over to Sakura.

"I know," Shisui said, grinning. "She's already making death threats… true friendship right there."

Itachi nodded. "Hn."

Her ears tinted pink, quickly turning her face away as she pulled down her mask and shovelled the dango into her mouth before turning back to face them, a single ball of dango left on the stick. _She had a terrible sweet tooth, but she couldn't afford to indulge herself all that much. Not when she had nine other siblings to deal with._

"'tachi, where's mine?" Shisui looked at him as he started on his second stick.

Itachi stared at him blankly. "Get some yourself, you mooch."

He pouted again, going and grabbing some dango for himself – if only not to feel left out as they walked away from the quaint little dango shop and back towards the training ground, eating dango all the while. Well, Shisui and Itachi were. Sakura just stared at the single ball of sweet deliciousness, her stomach twisting. _She and Ino had used to treat themselves occasionally. _A sad smile curled at her lips. _Dango was best enjoyed with friends. _She glanced at the two Uchiha, heat rising to her face as they glanced back at her. She had friends. Sure, they were a fair few years older than her, but it was probably for the best. _She didn't want to hang around immature idiots… _Her eyes flickered over to Shisui, a sigh escaping her lips as she spied him eyeing up the last piece of dango on her stick. _He really was a mooch. _"Hn." She thrust the half-eaten stick in his direction. "I'm not hungry anymore."

"Thanks, Saku-chan," Shisui said, bright grin on his face as he scarfed it down.

"_I wasn't hungry,"_ she grumbled, ears warming under her hood.

"Nobody was saying you weren't." He smirked. "But it's OK… we know you care, you're just a complete and utter tsundere…"

Sakura bristled, turning on him in outrage. "I _am not _a tsundere!"

A suspicious cough sounded from the rooftops, her eyes narrowing as her gaze locked on the nearby dark tiling. _It had sounded like someone was concealing their laughter. _Her chakra pulsed out, expanding her minute sensor range, her stance relaxing ever so slightly as she sensed the familiar warm chakra belonging to one Uchiha Izuna. She pulled at the fabric covering her chest, cheeks heating. _He was keeping his promise… watching over her… _Still, it didn't give him an excuse for laughing at her. _Git._

"That's exactly what a tsundere would say," Shisui said, grinning.

Sakura huffed, blinking as a loud shout pierced the air, cutting off their impending argument, replacing her mild annoyance with dread.

"RIVAL!"

Sakura shuddered. That was Renka's voice, and Renka only had one rival, as far as she was aware.

Itachi and Shisui looked at her questioningly.

"ETERNAL RIVAL!"

Shisui sniggered.

Itachi looked vaguely constipated.

She turned, eye curling up as Renka bounced into view. "The weather is great today. Perfect for our first contest!" Shuddering more intently, she stared at the girl, silently asking herself what her life had become. _What sort of joke was this supposed to be? She was becoming just like her sensei, and it was horrifyingly alarming._ "We'll race towards the Hokage Monument! First one to the top is the winner, and they'll take the first point." Renka placed her hands on her hips. "We have to keep track of our tally. Gai-sensei says it's important to know who's ahead in a rivalry, otherwise it'll fall to pieces."

"Awww… whose this Saku-chan?" Shisui leant on her head, peering down at the small Senju. "You never told me you had an _eternal _rival, just like Kakashi-senpai." He blinked. "Or that said rival is the First Hokage's daughter… Huh. You really get around, Saku-chan…"

"I'm Sakura-chan's one and only rival!" Renka said, folding her arms, smirking at the older boy. "She punched me in the face yesterday. It was so hip and cool, so I followed Gai-sensei's guidance and declared her my eternal rival."

Itachi blinked.

Shisui followed suit, before casting a glance in her direction. "You punched Senju Hashirama's daughter in the face?"

"She was being irritating." Sakura folded her arms across her chest.

He sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands, groaning loudly as he stared at the ground. "Why? Saku-chan… why must you do this to me?"

"Well," Itachi murmured, looking towards the Hokage monument. "It is _Sakura _we're talking about here…"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Saku-chan, you don't have room to complain." Shisui stared at her. "You disobeyed the Yondaime with no remorse—"

"I was rescuing my sisters." She folded her arms.

"And yet you still didn't listen to our wonderful Hokage…" Shisui sighed, throwing his hands out. "You can't deny that little reputation you've built."

"So…" Renka interrupted, bouncing up and down on her feet. "What'd you say?"

"Tch. Fine," she grumbled, looking away from the watery puppy dog eyes staring at her pleadingly.

"Well, me and 'tachi will head to the finish line… so we can watch…" Shisui said, covering his mouth with his hand. _He was concealing his laughter, the bastard. _"See you there Saku-chan."

Just like that the pair of them were gone in a puff of smoke, leaving her alone with her wonderful rival who was soon talking her ear off again.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, who were they? Your friends?" Sakura smiled, concealing the grin from her apparent rival. Renka wasn't so bad, especially as a distraction. _She could use some sort of stress relief right now. _"You have friends?"

Her face twitched, one hand clenching wildly in front of her as the other bunched up Renka's collar, pulling her closer. "Of course I have friends, idiot!" she hissed.

"But I'm gonna be your bestest!" Renka grinned, and Sakura somehow found herself unable to injure that annoyingly smiling face in any way, shape, or form. "But we're rivals… Meh. I suppose that don't matter. Tou-san and Madara-oji are bestest of friends, Gai-sensei and his rival are too, so we can be awesomely good friends and have a cool rivalry going at the same time. Yay!"

"Kill me now," Sakura grumbled, folding her arms as she released her idiot of a rival.

"Sakura-chan! You aren't allowed to die," Renka said, glaring at her with a pout. "We still have a race we need to complete. Gai-sensei said he'd be challenging his own eternal rival to a race to the top of the Hokage Monument today, so we might bump into them if we're lucky! Then I'll be able to show off my super cool and hip rival… but just to warn you, Gai-sensei can be very youthful, so you just gotta roll with it, kay?"

"So… um… when are we going to start then?" she asked, silently praying it wouldn't take too long. She did have to go back and prepare breakfast and lunch for the rest of her siblings. _In fact, _she mused, _it'd probably be better to make meals before she went on her morning training. _Sakura nodded to herself. That was a good idea. She'd have to remember to do that.

Renka picked up a small rock, grinning wildly as she shifted her feet into position. "You ready?" she asked, flicking the stone into the air.

"Of course, idiot," she muttered, eyes fixed on the falling rock. Her reactions were as sharp as ever, so the by the time the scant amount of dust scuffed up by the landing stone had scattered, she was long gone.

Her feet slapped against the familiar dirt-packed streets of Konoha, Renka right on her tail as they sprinted past the dango shop she'd stopped at a while before. Wind ruffled her hair, a small smile on her face as she focused her attention solely on the race. It was nice. In that moment in time she didn't need to worry about anything other than winning. If she won, she'd prove she could protect her sisters, and there were no doubts she would. Her chakra pulsed in her feet, propelling her forward.

"You're really fast, Sakura-chan!" Renka yelled, running at her heels, evidently somewhat skilled at chakra manipulation. "As expected of my rival!"

Sakura sped on, noting at how Renka was keeping pace with her, smiling slightly at the look of sheer effort on her face. _She wasn't at full speed just yet. She could save her energy for the final sprint up to the finish though._

A blur of green sped past her, alongside a darker blur topped with silvery grey hair, and Sakura felt her heart stutter. _It was Kakashi-sensei… but he wasn't her Kakashi-sensei. This one didn't even know her. Hadn't watched all her struggles to become stronger._

Renka sped up all of a sudden, hot on the trail of Gai-sensei, and Sakura matched her pace, leaping up onto the rooftops, jumping ahead of her own eternal rival. _There would be no point in denying it. She knew from watching her own Kakashi and Gai. _The tips of her ears turned red, black eyes drifting over to land on her newish friend. _She'd be the Naruto to her Sasuke. _Laughter slipped from her lips, quiet, almost unheard, and Sakura pulled her focus back onto the race. The race she was going to win. Tile underfoot became stone, horizontal becoming vertical.

"This is where the real race begins, Sakura-chan!" Renka declared.

"Eat my dust," she muttered, launching herself up the stone faces as quickly as she could. _The finish line was almost in sight. _Chakra glued her feet to the craggy cliff face, the rock mercifully having no lose bits. Since she couldn't hear any screams or panicked flailing behind her, she assumed Renka was doing just fine too, so when she flung herself over the top of the cliff, she grinned. Wasting no time, she charged towards the sole unbroken finish line, paying no heed to the four sets of eyes tracking her. She raced forwards, smirking as she skidded through the poles set up, hearing the thudding of feet behind her. _She hadn't lost her skills. She'd protect her sisters to the—_

"That was so cool!" Renka tackled her into a hug, uncaring as the pair of them slammed into the ground.

Sakura winced, stiffening as she felt something pop. _Please don't let that be what she thought it was, _she prayed, blinking as Renka was lifted off her.

"Renka-chan, I'm so proud!"

She blinked at the sound of Gai's voice, turning just in time to see the rivers streaming from his eyes and the sunset and waves in the background as he hugged Renka.

"You've finally found your eternal rival, and you've challenged them for the first time." Gai sobbed, and Sakura stared at them blankly until a gloved hand appeared in front of her hand. "You're in the springtime of youth!"

"Need a hand?" A familiar masked face, much like her own, peered down at her, two black eyes crinkling up into a smile. _Kakashi didn't have the sharingan in her new dimension. _Sakura stared at him. _He looked strange with two black eyes on display. She missed the slanted hitai-ate._

"Thanks," she muttered, accepting the hand up, wincing as she felt a warm liquid tickle down her back, soaking into her shirt as she quickly pulled her hoodie off – not wanting to get blood on it.

"Saku-chan!" Shisui ran over, picking her up with a twirl. "You beat your _eternal rival _already… Looks like you really are the Kakashi in your rivalry."

"Shisui, she's bleeding," Itachi said, squinting at the dark stain blooming across the back of her shirt. "I think she's pulled her stitches."

Sakura folded her arms, scowling as she glanced over at Renka. "Hn," she grumbled, knowing what was coming next would not be fun in the slightest. _It wasn't even her fault her stitches had been pulled… so how had she ended up sitting in front of Senju Tobirama getting lectured?_

She glanced over at Renka, glaring at the brunette. Shisui had all but carried her to Tobirama's doorstep, fretting like a mother hen, Itachi soon dragging him away with a wave as he left her to face the infuriated white-haired Senju on her lonesome.

"I need to make breakfast and lunch for my sisters, so I'll be on my way—"

"Sit your backside back down on that cushion right now." Tobirama loomed over her, red eyes narrowed as she sat back down with a squeak. "Clearly I need to drill this lesson into those thick skulls of yours, but injured people _aren't supposed to be challenged to races across the village—_"

"Technically—"

"Ah, ah, ah." Tobirama held up a finger, silencing her before she could get another word out. "They also _aren't supposed to accept such ridiculous challenges, either. _Honestly…" He ran a hand through his spiky white locks. "I have enough problems with the Academy, my brother, and that oaf. I don't need a miniaturised version of Hashirama and Madara, understand?"

Sakura folded her arms, silently admiring the new bandages wrapped around her chest. "Hn."

Tobirama stepped forwards menacingly. "I said… _do we understand?_"

She nodded sharply alongside Renka. "Yes."

"Good." Sakura blinked, finding herself dangling in the air moments later, held by the scruff of her shirt like some sort of misbehaving kitten. "Now, let's get you home before you decide to injure yourself again… and so help me, if I catch you attempting any sort of training for the next three days, I will drag you to the hospital, and tie your backside to a damned bed. Rest means rest – no training, nothing that can aggravate those injuries of yours."

"Tch. Fine," Sakura grumbled, waving a brief goodbye to her eternal rival who looked at her mournfully as she was dragged back to Tomoe's apartment across town.

Tobirama left without a word, though Sakura was fairly sure she saw him pouncing on Izuna as she shut the door.

"Nee-chan?" Akira blinked sleepily at her. "You're back from your training already?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Gotta make our breakfast and lunch."

"Saku-nee, we can do that. Tomoe-oba taught us that much," Akira mumbled, startling as Sakura prodded her forehead.

"I'm the oldest, Aki-chan," she said with a smile. "Kaa-san wanted me to look after all of you no matter what…"

Akira bit her lip, glancing over at the framed photo of their mother. Their aunt had left it there earlier, positioned neatly in its black frame, a stick of incense ready to be burnt. "Kaa-chan…"

Sakura ruffled her hair. "You can light the incense if you want."

"But the others…"

"They can say their prayers another time." She glanced over at the door to their bedroom, the apartment suddenly feeling that much smaller as she looked back at the youngest of her triplet group. _She was only an hour or two younger than her… then again, Akira was a genuine five-year-old. Not a fake one, like she was. _"Besides… they'll be waking up soon, and the other triplets and twins are too young to understand what's going on…"

"OK." Akira stared at her feet, trudging over to the photo, pausing as she realised something. "Wait, nee-chan! How am I supposed to light it?"

Sakura stumbled, noting Tomoe hadn't left them any sort of method to light it. _A wise precaution, given the oldest of them were technically five-years-old for all appearances. _"Oh." She blinked, silently going over the hand signs in her head. "Leave it to me." _Her chakra control was good enough, and Uchiha could generally generate some sort of fireball on their first go. She'd just need to make hers as small as possible, and she had decent enough chakra control for that. _

Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.

Her hands flickered through the signs like a well-oiled machine, grasping onto a thimbleful of chakra, flames bursting from her lips to form a tiny ball at the top of the incense stick.

"Whoa." Akira stared at her, eyes wide. "That was a jutsu! Cool! Saku-nee, where'd you learn that? Teach me!" She moved her hands in pale imitations of Sakura's.

Sakura sighed, prodding her cute little sister's forehead again. "I'll teach you it once you're in the academy, OK? Don't try anything before then."

"So I need to get into the academy? 'kay. I'll get in. Just you watch nee-chan!"

Chuckling, Sakura stepped back. "Don't forget what you were about to do," she reminded, heart pounding at the sad expression that overtook her little sister's face yet again. "I'm heading to the bathroom. Don't do anything stupid til I get back."

_She needed to check something. Something she hadn't had time to before she'd rushed off for her morning training. Something that had been bothering her since the night before. _Stumbling into the bathroom, she pushed the footstool into place, peering at herself in the mirror. She closed her eyes, pouring her chakra into her eyes, opening her eyes as they spun into red, three tomoe spinning in their depths. Pushing more chakra in made them spin that much faster, the patterns shifting and rippling across her eyes as she activated the Mangekyou in her widening eyes. Sakura sighed, staring at the strange new pattern in her eyes. Obito's pinwheel was still there, but it had shrunk, and now her eyes looked closer to what Sasuke's Mangekyou had looked like. It wasn't exactly the same, but the similarities were there.

"Brilliant," she muttered. "Just brilliant."

She'd had Obito's Mangekyou before – he'd apparently keyed it into the seal, but that hadn't accounted for the change in her DNA. She was an Uchiha by blood, whether by accident or design, and apparently she had a Mangekyou of her own. One she'd awakened that night.

"Well, at least I won't go blind," she mumbled, eyes fading back into black, chakra slightly depleted as she hopped down from the stool, pushing it back into its original place. _She had yet another weapon in her arsenal to protect her sisters with… even if it was ridiculously chakra draining._

Smiling to herself, she went about making breakfast, packing some bentos for lunch alongside it, ignoring the quiet murmurs of her sisters as they came out one by one. Some joined Akira, the others seating themselves at the table. _There was no Tomoe though… not yet._

She was under orders to rest, so once breakfast was over and done with, she tucked herself back in their room, quietly listening to her sisters playing about in the other room. There wasn't that much to do, aside from sit around or play with her sisters. There weren't many books—

Sakura paused, eyes falling on the small book Tomoe had brought them. _Their mother's diary. _One which might contain clues as to who their mother was, who their father was, and what in the blue blithering blazes she'd wound up in. Curling up on her futon, she flicked the book over, tilting her head as she began to read.

She had read well over half of the entries by the time she got to anything she considered to be of importance – a possible clue as to who their father, or fathers, were. The entry had begun similar to the others, dated at least nine months before she'd been born. It was the only vaguely Uchiha-ish entry she'd found.

_'Last night, I had an… interesting customer, to say the least. He was drunk, that much was certain, and I'd go as far to say that he was absolutely plastered, but then, those like him usually are exceptionally good at holding their liquor. Or at least seeming like they're not as drunk as they are. They wouldn't have been let in otherwise. His brother, and his friends had dragged him in, seemingly to get their delightful friend to stop being such a grump – or so I heard. I can't really remember their faces, but I could hazard a guess as to who they were, but no full names allowed in this little diary of mine, as per usual._

_It was adorable. He spent the first half an hour pointedly looking away from me, and his ears were a cute shade of red. I don't think I've ever seen an Uchiha look so flustered—'_

Sakura paused in her reading, eyes narrowing. She could certainly imagine Obito doing that, but the part about a brother irked her. Obito didn't have a brother – at least not in her world, but maybe it was different here. _That had to be it. _Her eyes narrowed on the page, all the more convinced the further she read. She could imagine Obito's friends dragging him in, and she could most certainly imagine him passing out like an idiot before anything interesting happened… but therein lay the problem. Her mother apparently hadn't slept with him, according to the diary entry, she'd just tucked him in like a child and watched over him, glad she didn't have to _work _that night.

Scowling, she flickered through, silently wondering if she was reading some sort of terrible romance story as she busied herself in the pages of the diary. Names weren't mentioned, and Sakura was still clueless as to who exactly fathered her and her sisters. All she knew was that her father was likely this weird customer who came back and met with her mother after her working hours were over. It had started with talking and then moved onto _other_ things. _It sounded like the plot of a cheesy romance novel, if she was completely honest with herself. _"Guess I'll just have to settle with never knowing," she muttered, staring up at the ceiling of their new home. "I mean, it's not like I can casually walk up to every Uchiha and ask for a DNA test… maybe they were married or something…" _Or maybe it was Obito…_ She buried her head in her pillow, muffling her groan as she set the little book down to one side. She could read the rest of it at a later point in time. She ignored the small voice in the back of her head reminding her that _Madara had a brother. _That was an impossibility. She refused to even think about it. Sleep was more important. Sleep was an unfortunate necessity that she didn't get much of, especially with their mother… gone… She glanced around the room, noting how her sisters had snuck in while she'd been buried in her reading. There was too much she still didn't know, and Misa's diary hadn't given her any clues to her past – well, as of yet. Sakura still hoped there were hints as to what the hell her mother had done to get her on the wrong side of her clan. _She didn't want to go into things blind. _Not when her sisters' lives were on the line.

She flopped back on her bed, groaning as she stared at the ceiling, the slight twinge in her back reminding her to be careful of her stitches. The diary fell to the floor, a single slip of paper slipping out of the book, but the burning itch in her chest didn't wait for her to bend down and get it. Sakura winced, chest shaking as she coughed – a wet, hacking sound filling the air. Hurrying over to the sink, she wasted no time in grabbing a glass and filling it from the tap. She swallowed it back, her coughing continuing moments later, her hand barely able to muffle the sounds.

Copious amounts of water later, and her coughing fit was over. Sighing, she slumped back against the wall, silently wondering when her annoying cold – or whatever the hell it was – would go. She walked back to the room, silently navigating through the sleeping forms of her sisters, blinking at the strange wetness she could feel on her palm. Glancing down, she froze, eyeing the few dark splotches on her palm, blinking in shock as the moonlight cast the reddish liquid in light. _Blood. _Sakura looked down at herself, eyebrows knitting together when she found no wounds that could've caused it. She gulped her water down, biting her lip as she lay down for the night, her coughs having tapered off.

Whatever it was, she could deal with it in the morning.


	15. Chapter 15: Clones and Preparations

"Nee-chan…" Black eyes stared at her imploringly from underneath the numerous sheets of paper she'd acquired through various sources. Questions after questions had been answered by her two sisters. Mio had diligently sat through it, like the darling sibling she was, but Akira, as Sakura was discovering, was alarmingly more like Naruto than she'd first thought. She couldn't sit still for one, and she struggled with the theoretical side of things. Mio was similar to her previous self, so teaching her had been easy. Akira was far more troubling. She also demanded far too many breaks. "Can we go to the park?" she asked, fluttering her eyes determinedly, holding up her answer sheet. "Pretty please! Lookie lookie… I got the last two questions all right."

Sakura sighed. _She supposed that was worth a reward or two, if only to keep Akira interested in her studies. _"Fine," she grumbled. "But when we get back, you'll be doing another hour of study. The exams are only two days away and I won't have you failing on me."

"Sure, sure, now let's go!" Akira was out of her seat in seconds.

She sighed again, hand half outstretched as she stared at the space her wonderful triplet had just occupied. "Right." Her hands went to her hips when she turned to the rest of her siblings. "We're going to lay some ground rules right here and now, OK?"

Mio nodded.

"Hai, nee-chan!" Yuki bounced to her feet, staring at her intently.

Ran nodded quietly next to her, tugging on her triplet's sleeve to hold her in place. The youngest pair of twins copied the others, the tiny heads nodding up and down placidly making Sakura silently worry. _They didn't have any adults to go with them. _Tomoe had been back as often as she could, but work was work. She needed to earn money, especially with all of them now depending on her, plus she needed her sleep. _Though Sakura was fairly sure they'd now been registered with the civilian sector, and along with that came a stipend – one Tomoe always tucked into the safe containing all their money. _There was no point in keeping them unregistered. A fair few of the bigshots in the village were already aware of her own existence, and three of them were due to join the academy in a matter of days… providing none of them failed the test. They weren't going to be nameless akasen brats anymore.

Her gaze darted back over to Akira, watching silently as her fellow five-year-old pulled on her coat, and yanked her boots onto—

"Akira, you're boots are on the wrong feet," she grumbled, hurrying over to help her fix her clothing. "Idiot."

Akira chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry, nee-chan."

"Now." Sakura folded her arms, turning back to face the rest of her siblings, face red from the exertion. "You're all going to be staying in the same place, which means no wandering off when my back is turned. Understood?" Her eyes narrowed. "Otherwise I won't take you all out again, and we'll have to wait until Tomoe-oba comes around again, and you know how often she appears."

"Not very," Sora muttered, folding her arms with a pout.

"But we have Saku-nee!" Seiren said, and Sakura could almost envision sparkles in her eyes as she spoke. "I love Saku-nee the most."

"Nu uh." Sora scowled. "I love Sakura-nee more!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Sakura sighed, a fond smile pulling at her lips before she went and pulled them apart by the ear. "You're to be on your best behaviour when we're out." She twisted their ears even more. "So—"

"Nee-chan, it hurts!" Sora sniffled.

"We'll be good, Sakura-nee! Promise."

"Hn." She let them go, smirking as they rubbed at their sore ears. "You'd better. Now, get over here," she ordered, turning around to the coat rack. "We're getting dressed to go out. It's rained recently, so don't forget your hats and gloves." Sakura turned, pulling her own coat and shoes free from the rack, ensuring her own clothes were properly wrapped around herself before she went over to help her siblings. "Mio." She turned to the door where her slightly spiky-haired sibling waited – the only one she could entrust with the task. "You're in charge of keeping an eye of Akane and Nozomi, m'kay?"

Mio nodded fiercely. "I'll do my best nee-chan."

Sakura blinked. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

Mio stared at her intently, hands bunched into fists. "I wanna be a good shinobi, so this is like my first misshion, right?" she asked, practically oozing determination.

She nodded. "Sure… you can treat it like that if you want…" she mumbled, helping Akane button up her thin jacket, wrapping her up in a scarf, before leading both her and her twin over to Mio. "Be good for Mio, OK?" she asked, tilting her head, smiling warmly as they nodded in unison. _Adorableness at its finest. _

"Come on, Saku-nee." Akira bounced back and forth impatiently. "We need to go. Maybe Naru and Sasuke will be there too…"

"They're probably studying for the test that's coming up – like you should be doing," Sakura muttered, fishing the front door key out of the box. "But the sooner we get going, I suppose, the sooner we get back for _more _studying."

"Ugh, nee-chan, don't remind me!" Akira pouted dangerously, lower lip wobbling, and Sakura all but shoved her out the door. _She refused to fall prey to pouts and puppy dog eyes. _

"Come on then," she said, herding the rest of their siblings through the door, hovering about them like the fretting mother hen she was, _not that she'd even admit that fact_. "I can quiz you on the way there and back so I know what to cover for our next study session."

"But nee-chan…"

"Hush and answer these questions," she ordered, taking Tora and Yumi's hands in her own, blinking as she felt Ran's hand bunch up in her coat. Mio had the youngest twins safely in hand, Sora and Seiren tottering along in front of her as they walked down the street and into the park. Akira grumbled the entire way, sullenly answering the questions Sakura threw her way as best she could until they reached the expanse of green grass.

It was a quiet day, all the clan children conspicuously absent. There were no doubts they were all preparing for the academy admissions tests. They needed to score well enough to get into the main class marked by the letter A. It was the only way to ensure they were still there at graduation, and that they got the best education possible. Sakura had been lucky to make it into that class the last time around. Some other civilians she'd known in passing had been put in classes B through to D, and they hadn't made it to graduation – either dropping out voluntarily or being forced to. _Plus even if they'd graduated they wouldn't have been on the Jonin Track. They'd have been in the Genin Reserves, without proper tutor or sensei lest they find one themselves._

She'd be in the main class, definitely. Either that or the class Itachi and Shisui talked about a lot. The one filled with geniuses who needed something to keep them occupied. Early graduation this time around, was apparently not allowed thanks to the founders. Sakura supposed it made sense. They'd built Konoha so child soldiers didn't have to be sent out to the frontlines of some battle, so any shinobi under the age of twelve was apparently blasphemy. _Not that Sakura minded too much, aside from the whole financial side of things. _She'd get to stay with her sisters, and _loathe she admit it,_ hang out with Renka. Possibly Itachi too, since he was still stuck in the academy.

But speaking of the academy… there was something she needed to do – a certain jutsu she'd been practicing for weeks to try and nail down. She plucked a leaf off the ground, sitting on the bench, ignoring the sounds of her siblings in front of her and the girls behind her as she focused her chakra. Elemental transformations weren't easy. Especially since her own had most definitely changed from the earth-water nature she'd had before. Sure, it helped that she'd done earth transformation jutsu before, but it didn't mean it hadn't been an uphill battle trying to get her new chakra to conform to that.

She'd managed it, as was proven by the leaf crumbling into dirt, but it took far more chakra than what she was comfortable with. If she'd have tried it back when she was five in her last life she'd have passed out on the spot. Fortunately for her, her chakra reserves were deeper, so making an earth clone in private was just about doable, but it took her a good few hours to recover all the chakra she used. It was necessary though. She wasn't about to leave her siblings alone and unguarded when she went to the academy and Tomoe-oba went to work – as she was forced to in order to get the money to provide for them.

Her heart clenched at the thought of their self appointed aunt. She tried, she really did, but because of that they rarely saw her. Well, while she was awake. They'd peeked into her room occasionally to find her asleep, flat out snoring on her small bed. Money from the nights, and the other part time job she'd picked up stowed away in the safe. Sakura already had the combination to that memorised while the rest of her siblings were moping about the lack of their aunt. _But it was OK, they had Sakura_… and she was the one who took them out to the park and trained them.

Sighing quietly, she slumped back against the bench, exhaustion creeping through her limbs. She was working just as hard as Tomoe – making their meals, setting aside a portion for the older woman when she got the chance – but it wasn't enough. _She doubted it would ever be. _The thought made her body shudder, lungs itching yet again as she sat there. She coughed into her elbow, taking a sip of the drink she'd brought along for that exact purpose. It always helped to calm her throat whenever it felt a bit dry.

"—ugly!"

"Forehead is—"

"Cry baby!"

"Ino-pig isn't here to save you today!" The taunts rang in her ears, and Sakura stiffened, turning around slowly at the voices she could hear behind her. They danced at the back of her brain, pulling back memories. Old memories. The ones where she'd been five years old, both in body and mind. Those voices belonged to Ami, Kasumi, and their groupies. She could remember those sounds, even if she hadn't heard them in years. The scars they'd left on her confidence and self esteem were still there. They were what had given rise to Inner Sakura – not that she existed anymore. Yet another thing she'd lost.

Her head snapped back around, having seen the red ribbon dangling from Ami's hand, her heart clenching painfully at the thought of the one Ino had given her all those years ago. It was gone by now. Ruined. That Haruno Sakura sitting back there didn't have a thing to do with her. She was this world's Yamanaka Ino's business. _She didn't need to get involved with the girl wearing her old face. _She didn't need to see the cowering figure behind those slightly older girls who thought they meant business – who thought they'd become awesome kunoichi without scars or scratches.

_Pathetic. The lot of them… especially her old self. _Her hands curled into fists. Why couldn't she just get up and punch them? Why was she just sitting there and taking it? Her lip curled, and she strode towards her siblings, ignoring the drama unfolding behind her. _She hated her past self. Seeing it would be no good._

She didn't need to be reminded of slightly too large foreheads, and big green eyes. She had thinner black ones, and a scary face to go with it. The past was the past, and she wasn't going to be the one to dredge up all those memories. She couldn't get close to Ino again – _she wasn't her Ino and never would be, because she wasn't Haruno Sakura anymore _– and if she went near this world's Haruno Sakura it would basically be the same thing. So she walked away, ignoring the small voice in the back of her head that reminded her of Naruto.

She had her own siblings to look after. And Haruno Sakura wasn't one of them.


	16. Chapter 16: Academy Beginnings

Her sharingan faded, the eight-digit number burned into her brain before she slipped the piece of paper back into her mother's diary. It was the only clue she had as to their mother's past – not even words to say what the number was. Just eight digits which could mean anything. _Was it a code of some sort to a super-secret vault? A password to a computer or an important locked file? _The list of all possible things it could be was far too long, and Sakura didn't have the faintest idea where to start. She didn't have the time nor the energy to look into it just yet, so she was happy with simply memorising it with her fancy red eyes. They were coming in handy for a lot of things, not that she could use them half the time. She still needed to scout out the Uchiha-Konoha relationship, and it was likely the academy would be the best place for her to start. There was only so much she could learn from the streets of the red light district.

"Sakura-nee…" Mio padded out of the bedroom, biting her lip as she took a seat next to her at the low dining table. "I'm scared." Her hand fisted in her pyjamas, snuggling up as close to her sibling as possible. "What happens if I fail? I wanna stay with you and Aki… but—"

Sakura pressed a finger to her lips. "If you fail, you can always try again next year," she said, ruffling her sister's hair, sighing quietly in relief as Mio relaxed in her embrace. "But I doubt you'll fail… you're smart Mio… 'sides, there's no use in worrying about it now. You've done what you can, so the best thing you can do is get a good nights sleep before the big day." Sakura smiled, sipping from her hot chocolate. "Want me to make you some hot chocolate too?"

Mio shook her head from where it burrowed into her side. "Nah. Tomoe-oba said too much sugar before bed is bad."

"Yeah," she mumbled, wrapping an arm around her sister's back. "It probably is…"

"Love you, nee-san," Mio whispered, pulling away all of a sudden, hurrying back into their room, leaving Sakura all alone again in the midst of the living room. Probably a good thing too.

Her shoulders slumped, her throat itching even as she coughed, muffling the sounds in her hands as best she could. Her sisters, barring Mio, were likely fast asleep and she didn't need to wake them. She didn't want Mio hurrying back out to see what was wrong either. Slipping into the bathroom, she scowled, gritting her teeth at the small glob of liquid she could feel on her hand. It was a dark red in the harsh bathroom light, staring up at her mockingly as she slammed her hands down on the sink. _Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it'd vanish overnight. Maybe it wasn't a big deal. _Tears pricked at her eyes. _Who was she kidding? _"Damn you, Obito," she muttered, her hand curling into a fist, slamming weakly against the tacky bathroom mirror. "Why'd you make me an Uchiha?" she whispered, staring at her watery reflection. "Why'd you put me in _this _body? _Why, dammit?" _

She was coughing up blood – fortunately only small amounts at the current moment in time – but with her medical knowledge she knew it'd only be a matter of time until she was coughing up mouthfuls rather than a few droplets. _And despite being registered with the civilian sector, they had no health insurance, they weren't shinobi, they didn't even have shinobi parents, and they had barely any spare money to their name. _There was a problem with her lungs, an internal problem, which would require at least one operation and some sort of medication. She'd never be able to treat herself from home and she'd never get near the hospital. As she was now, she'd never be able to foot the bill. Even if she became an academy student she wouldn't be able to go in for a major operation, even with the health care bonus that came along with being a shinobi-in-training. _They'd be more likely to kick her out of the academy and send her home. The Founders wouldn't want to send out shinobi with health problems when there were perfectly capable healthy ones with less risk of dying in the field. Shinobi with bad lungs were no good, unless they were Hayate Gekko. He'd had support from his reasonably well-off family too. His shinobi parents. She didn't have that._

She'd just have to hold on… until she became a genin and earned some money. A smile cracked at her face, and she swallowed, washing her hands as she cleaned up the evidence. If there was one thing she was good at, it'd be survival. Some petty little illness wouldn't take her out. She'd survived in a wasteland for years. Surviving for a few more in a vibrant village wouldn't be too hard. _Even if she'd be under the watch of at least one of the most powerful shinobi in all times. _Her face froze. _It looked like Tobirama would have yet another secret to pry out from her. _She chuckled bitterly.

"But for now," she mumbled, quickly washing out her empty cup, leaving it on the drying rack with the rest of the washing up she'd done earlier. "I think it's bedtime… exciting day tomorrow…"

Of course, an exciting day didn't stop her from completing her morning training, her sensing radar on full power just in case a certain white-haired Senju decided to drop by. Fortunately he didn't, and Izuna only popped by the apartment – not going inside, but she'd felt his presence briefly, and she was fairly certain he'd waved at her. _Idiotic man-child. _She folded her arms with a huff, scowling at the bathroom mirror, prodding underneath her eyes. _She was already developing eyebags and dark shadows underneath her eyes. _Sighing, she went back to the living room, cracking out a book she'd borrowed from the library as she drank her morning coffee. _She just prayed she didn't end up looking too much like Gaara. That wasn't a look she was too sure she'd be able to pull off that well._

"Nee-chan!" Akira was out of the bedroom in a flash, no doubt having smelt the food she'd prepared earlier. "It's today! It's finally today!" She bounced up and down on her feet, looking sheepish moments later when Sora and Seiren stumbled out, grumbling about the noise. "We're going to the academy!"

Sakura flicked her forehead, dragging her to her usual spot, placing a plate of breakfast down in front of her. "Eat," she ordered, sipping at her coffee, having already eaten her own breakfast. "You'll need your strength for today."

"Sure!" Akira mumbled, mouth already full of food and Sakura slapped her over the head gently.

"No talking with your mouth full, silly," she said, busying herself back in her reading as the rest of her siblings slowly trickled out of their room. She'd already set Tomoe's aside with a note, having peered into the older woman's room to find her flat out asleep in bed. _She'd tucked her in, having noticed she was just lying on top of the sheets._

"We need to be there soon, don't we?" Akira was practically vibrating with excitement, trying to herd them out of the door.

"We've still got some time," Sakura said, pulling her shoes on, even as seven sets of eyes watched them mournfully. "But it's better to arrive early than late," she continued, making the correct hand seals, watching as the earth clone formed next to her. _Her chakra levels were low. Not uncomfortably so, but she'd have preferred to be going at full capacity._

"Whoa, nee-chan…" Akira stared between them. "There's two of you!" she yelled, lunging for the clone before Sakura stopped her.

"Don't touch it. Knowing you you'll dispel it, and then I won't be able to leave a clone to watch over our sisters," she said, scowling until her triplet got the message and retreated with a pout. "Oh, and that also applies to all of you," Sakura spoke, glancing at the rest of her younger sisters. "Don't be too rough with my clone, otherwise it won't be able to set your lunches or help you with anything, understand?"

"Sure thing, Saku-nee!" Sora called, waving.

"Nu uh. I'll be the one helping, not you," Seiren grumbled, glaring at her twin.

Sakura sighed, hurrying over to prod them on the forehead. "You two are the next oldest, so I'm leaving you two in charge under the supervision of my clone, OK?"

Seiren scowled. "Do I have to work with her?" she asked, pouting viciously as she pointed at her twin. "She's super annoying."

"Hn. You're just as an-annoying," Sora muttered, sticking her tongue out until Sakura poked their foreheads again.

Sakura sighed yet again, crouching down in front of where they sat. "You two wanna be shinobi too, don't you?" she asked, smiling albeit a bit sadly ass they both nodded vigorously. "Well, we live in Konohagakure, and do you know what this village is famous for?"

"Trees?" Sora offered.

"No, stupid. It has to be leaves," Seiren said, ignoring the glare from her twin.

"Leaves come from trees, idiot!"

Sakura flicked their foreheads again, pulling their attention back onto her. "You're both wrong," she said gently, chuckling softly at their crestfallen expressions. "Konoha is famous for its teamwork… and when you become shinobi, you'll be put into teams. You might not necessarily like your teammates, but you'll have to get along to work on missions." She let that sink in for a few moments before opening her mouth yet again. "I'm giving you a mission right now – and that's to look after the rest of our sisters. Right now, you two are a team, and what do teams in Konoha have to do?" She leant forwards, eyeing them intently as she waited for their answer.

Sora folded her arms, Seiren sighing as they chorused in unison. "Work together," they muttered, eyeing each other in annoyance.

Sakura smiled brightly, pulling them both into hugs, kissing them both on the forehead before she pulled away. Or tried to, anyway. A small hand knotted in her trousers, Ran staring determinedly at the table, her voice so quiet she barely heard the hushed whisper.

"Us too."

She blinked, bending down to give all of her sisters a hug and a kiss. "Nee-chan the best," Nozomi mumbled, waving a short stubby arm as Sakura hurried to the door, closing it behind her with her key. _Tomoe's spare key was on the side should her clone need it. _With that, they were off on the long trek to the academy, mask, braid, and hood in place.

"Don't worry, Mio…" she said, eyeing the trembling girl next to her. "You'll be fine. Just wait and see." Sakura pulled her along, fingers interwoven with her own while Akira wandered around them. Fortunately, she didn't get into too much trouble. At least not until they were only a few streets away from the academy.

"You really think you can be a ninja?" the mocking voice was Ami's, and Sakura felt her stomach drop like a rock. "You're just riding on Ino's coattails. You're nothing without her."

Her hands curled into fists as she walked, heart sinking as she realised she'd have to walk right by the group. _She wasn't going to intervene. Haruno Sakura was Yamanaka Ino's problem. Not hers. _Her footsteps felt heavy, like she was walking to her doom, a scowl pulling at her lips underneath her mask when she saw those watery green eyes.

A dull meaty thump met her ears, her eyes widening when she saw the foot kicking at the small pink-haired form. Bile rose in her throat. _Fight back, pathetic Sakura, _she wanted to scream. _But it wasn't her business. _She couldn't intervene. She wouldn't. Pathetic Sakura had to learn how to stand on her own two feet. _She'd done it before, and her irritating past self needed to do it again._

_But it was a completely different world, _the snide voice in the back of her head reminded her.

Sakura never remembered Ami physically hitting her before. Sure there'd been the taunts and the psychological side, but never anything that'd leave a trace. Her throat felt dry. Bone dry.

"Nee-chan." Mio tugged on her hand, nervousness written across her face as she stared at the scene to their side. "They're being mean to that girl…" Black eyes stared into her shadowed one, pleading for her to do something, _but it was Haruno Sakura. _How was she supposed to help the pathetic old version of herself? She didn't want to become yet another Ino to her past self. _She didn't need any more crutches. She needed to get her head screwed on straight and learn how to beat people up._

Akira's voice yanked her out of her thoughts. "HEY!" She stomped over to the bullies, and Sakura's heart clenched. _Akira had taken away her choice of remaining uninvolved. _"What're you doing?"

"Ugh, another ugly pink-haired idiot," Ami grumbled, pushing her sister away from her with one chubby hand. "Go away. This doesn't involve you, _civilian_."

"Nu uh." Akira put her hands on her hips. "I'm going to the academy for the tests today, so I'll be an academy student soon. You guys are going too, aren't you?"

"None of your business," Ami spat. "You'll probably fail anyway, with that ugly hair of yours – you'd just be a walking target!"

Akira just smiled, enraging her old bully that much more, and the following slap had Sakura walking forwards despite her aversion to her old self. Shaking legs and arms wouldn't stop her from protecting her actual sister, and if it meant protecting the snivelling green-eyed Sakura then so be it.

"I think that's enough," Sakura said, her hand snaking out faster than the girls could blink, catching Ami's arm in a vicelike grip. "We're all heading to the academy, and I see no reason why we should all delay our journey. There's such a thing as being punctual." _She wasn't Kakashi. She'd never be too late to save anybody ever again. _She stared blankly up at the slightly taller girl. _She was still annoyingly short, even for her age. _"Leave," she said in the flattest voice possible, tightening her grip enough to make it uncomfortable before she released her with a shove.

Ami left, taking her groupies with her before she could even start cracking out threats about breaking bones.

"Come on," she said, pulling Mio along, ignoring the girl sitting on the ground. "We need to get to the academy."

"Nee-chan, what about her?" Akira pointed at the snivelling mess.

"She should be able to make it to the academy on her own from here on in," Sakura said, shoving her hands into her pockets to hide the slight tremble in them as she stood so close to her past existence. _What would happen if they touched? _Sakura snorted mentally. _Nothing. She was completely unrelated to the snotty girl in front of her._

"Those girls were being really mean," Akira mumbled, rubbing at the reddened handprint on her cheek. "Were those bullies, nee-chan?"

"Yes, now—"

"Are you OK?" Akira crouched down. "Lookie, look, nee-chan…" she said, lifting a lock of the pastel pink hair. "Her hair is the same colour as ours!"

"I can see that—"

"So—"

Sakura grabbed Akira by the wrist. "Come on. Else we'll be late," she muttered gruffly, glaring down at her past self, her scowl only growing when she flinched back away from her. _She wasn't that scary – she was the kind of person the wimpy idiot could be if she stood up a bit and grew a damned spine. _

"Oh… OK…" Akira said, pulling away from the snivelling Sakura.

She stepped away, dragging her sisters away before a loud sob stopped her in her tracks. "Ugh," she muttered, stomping back towards her old self before she could lose her nerve. "Stop crying, idiot," she ordered, glaring down at the irritating past version of herself. "Those bullies won't stop if you just keep crying, and there won't always be somebody around to save you. Grow a bloody spine already and learn how to beat people up. You want to be a shinobi, don't you?" She threw a tissue into her lap. "Ugh. Might want to hurry up too. We do have to get to the academy by a certain time you know, idiot."

With that said, she turned on her heel, walking away, blinking as a _familiar _voice yelled out behind them. "Hey!" Yamanaka Ino ran towards them, and Sakura turned away. _It wouldn't do any good to see ghosts. Not there. Not then. _"What do you think you're doing?"

Her shoulders slumped, her feet not even halting in their movements. _Great, now her old friend thought she was some sort of bully. _She stopped the tears before they could even prick her eyes. That Ino wasn't her Ino. She was just an immature brat.

"That's right, keep running!" Ino yelled after them, and Sakura sighed wearily.

_It wasn't her damned Ino, and it never would be. She was a pale imitation, and Sakura hated it. _Still, it came as a surprise to both her and her sisters when she vanished from their sides, reappearing behind the _pathetically annoying _Ino. "So you took one look at the situation and immediately came to a single conclusion without even bothering to think of any other possibilities," she said, her lips right next to the blonde's ear, a smug smirk in place as Ino stiffened. "I hate people like you the most – the ones who think they're always right. Talk to your friend. I think you'll find the _actual _situation was much different to how you imagined it." She was gone in a flash, back with her sisters, pulling the pair of them towards the academy – where their shinobi careers would begin.

_And also the path to curing her lungs too, and nobody would be any the wiser about that little fact._

Yawning, she watched as the familiar building came into sight, black rooftiles, reddened wood, the Konoha Symbol emblazoned above the doorway. It was just like her old one. Some things really didn't change, and she didn't mind that at all. Dragging her sisters forwards, she pulled the completed paperwork for all of them out of her pocket, hurrying over to where the application desk was.

"Names?" the chunin working the desk asked, not bothering to look up from the paperwork in front of him, even as they added to the pile.

"Sakura, Mio, and Akira. No last names," she said, not bothering to flinch as his eyes lifted to roam over them. _No last names. Even the orphanage gave the children randomised common last names, and that made their origins all that more obvious. Red-Light brats. _She stared back at him blankly, daring him to make a comment about their dubious background.

"OK…" he spoke, noting something down on each of their envelopes as he pulled out two metal tags. "Which of you is Mio, and which one of you is Akira?"

"I'm Akira," she said, grinning widely as he handed her one of the metal tags. "She's Mio, and this one is Sakura-nee."

Mio received her tag, and Sakura blinked, wondering where her own was, but she kept her silence, waiting patiently for her explanation to arrive.

"That's your identification number for the tests today. Don't lose it," the chunin ordered. "Now, please head over to where all the other parents and children are. You'll be called in for testing soon."

Sakura cleared her throat, blinking in confusion when her papers were shoved back into her hands as her siblings were guided away from them by another chunin. She waved hesitantly at them, smiling until they happily went on their way. "Um, what's going on?"

He sighed. "You're Sakura, correct?" He lifted up a slip of paper with her name and description written down. "I assume you have pink hair, given your sisters…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Tobirama-san asked if we'd send you up to his office when you arrived. You'll see your sisters later, though I think you'll be completing your test in a different location."

"Oh." Sakura blinked again, telling herself she'd no doubt have to roll with things. "OK."

"Good luck, kid," the desk chunin said, turning back to his paperwork as another chunin came over to lead her up to the annoying Senju's office.

_Knowing her, she'd probably need all the luck she could get._


	17. Chapter 17: Academy Tests

Sakura swallowed audibly, ignoring the glance it earnt her from the chunin next to her as she stared at the door to the office. It was a plain door – professional, and the large silver plaque across it proclaimed 'Senju Tobirama'. _His office. _The same one she'd been called up to all of a sudden. She lifted her hand, knocking loudly, the set of three knocks seeming to echo in the silence that fell for a few moments.

"You can come in, Sakura-chan," Tobirama called, and the chunin at her side vanished back to wherever they were supposed to be.

Dimly she wondered how Tobirama had known it was her, but then her brain decided to start working again. _Sensor, duh. _She wet her lips, praying none of her secrets had been unearthed as she opened the door, the handle awfully high up for her short five-year-old self. _The damned chunin hadn't even bothered to help before buggering off, and Tobirama was no doubt sitting on his comfy office chair. _Scowling, she wrenched the door open, pulling it to when she entered. His office was surprisingly neat, considering how much of everything there was. Scrolls full of jutsu – blank scrolls for more jutsu notes, all lining up a bookshelf spanning one side of the long office. It was more a rectangular shape than anything else, the paint alternating on each wall between a clinical white and a deep dark blue. _Like the depths of the ocean, or maybe a slightly bluer midnight sky._

"Take a seat," Tobirama ordered, tapping on the—Sakura blinked. _He had a hospital bed and a miniature medical station set up in the corner of his office. _Blindly, she stumbled forwards, taking a seat where he'd indicated. Her glare was firm and fixed, her frown only growing when she realised exactly what was going on as he held up a pair of medical scissors. Her stitches were coming out. "This won't take long."

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course it wouldn't. She'd done the same procedure many a times. Sighing, she pulled off her hoodie and shirt, revealing the bandages underneath, uncaring as the Senju unwrapped them. _He was a medic, as was she, so nudity didn't faze either of them. Plus she was tiny, and there wasn't anything she needed to hide, unfortunately. _She pouted, staring at the wall as she felt the gentle tugging sensation in her shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you've been following orders," he said, seated behind her as he worked. "Even if you have been exercising at home a little more than you should."

Her eye twitched. "Stalker," she grumbled.

"Hardly," he muttered. "I'm just making sure idiotic little brats don't go making their injuries worse. Izuna's been helping too, the idiot."

"Goodie?"

"You should be fine to head back to those morning exercises you do, but please ensure you're getting enough sleep." He peered at her, and Sakura finally blinked in surprise. _He wore reading glasses? _"You look pale enough as it is… though you should be having your physical soon and that will tell us if there's anything wrong."

Sakura blanched. _Since when were physicals a thing? She'd only had one or two in her later years, and more often than not they'd been optional. _She blinked, staring at the white-haired Senju. _Surely any signs of her cough wouldn't be too noticeable, right? _

"Physicals aren't anything to be scared of," Tobirama said, staring levelly at her, hands radiating medical chakra as the last of her stitches was removed.

She glared at him mulishly. "I'm not scared. Hn." She looked away from him, staring at his ridiculously large bookshelf. There probably wasn't a single book he didn't own on jutsu theory. _In fact, Sakura was fairly certain he'd written most of them. _She'd read plenty of his works in her last life, and they'd been great. Super informative. As if he was teaching it to her in person. _Never would she have thought there might be an opportunity for him to teach her in person. _He was in charge of the academy. _She only prayed he wouldn't be doing any physicals himself. Knowing him, he'd be horribly thorough, and Sakura had secrets that he had no place to be uncovering so soon._

"Of course not, _brat_," he muttered, rolling his eyes in a way which made her bristle. "Now, put your shirt back on and head into the room to the right of this as you come out. Your test is in there."

"OK," she grumbled, glaring at him out of the corner of her eyes as she pulled her shirt back on and trudged out of the room. "See you around, I suppose, old man!"

"Brat."

Sakura closed the door behind her, humming under her breath as she crept into the next room along, blinking as she found a very young, very familiar chunin standing in front of the sole desk in the room.

"Are you Sakura-chan?" Iruka asked, looking down at her with wide brown eyes. He looked young – barely sixteen – which was odd, considering she was so used to him being a fully grown adult. She'd never met him properly when he was younger, though it seemed he'd decided to become an academy instructor that much earlier in her new world. _Either that or they had extra chunin helping out with the admissions process. _

"That's me," she said, staring up at him blankly.

"Well, this is your test, and you have two hours in which to complete it," Iruka said, setting the thick paper down on the desk. "All equipment you should need is on the desk."

Sakura blinked, eyeing up the stationary and the exorbitantly thick test paper. _She didn't remember it being that large in her last life… but Tobirama was in charge of the academy this time around, so obviously there were some changes._ Danzo and Hiruzen hadn't had the chance to cut down on curriculum or try and enforce early graduation.

"When do I start?"

"Well, the time is ten o'clock on the dot, so you have until twelve o'clock in which to complete the paper. Good luck, and you may begin now."

She flicked open the test paper without a second thought, blinking at how easy the questions were. _It was definitely the correct test paper for someone of her level… well, what should've been her level, anyway. _Without further ado she began, her pen scratching at the desk as she wrote her answers out. _Early graduation wasn't allowed… so even if she aced all the harder questions nobody would be able to do anything. Besides, it was obvious Tobirama was expecting her to ace the test. Not doing so would only make him more suspicious… make him think she had something to hide. _Subtility at this point, was well and truly moot. _Well, about everything aside from the sharingan. _Tobirama knew her well enough, as did Izuna. Neither she nor her sisters would be able to simply vanish without a decent investigation arising. _Besides, she was fairly sure Danzo wouldn't try anything stupid with his sensei alive and well, if he'd even taken steps down that dark path he had in her old timeline. _

Yawning, she answered question after question, the only ones making her pause being the history ones. _She'd had to look through the library a lot, since though maths and basic language were still the same old stuff, the history of her new dimension was another ballgame entirely. _There were elements that remained the same, like Uzushio being wiped out, and the yellow flash massacring Iwa nin, etc, but large parts of it were entirely different. _The biggest being that Madara didn't go batshit crazy in pursuit of so-called peace. _Her lip curled at the thought. She loathed him. Loathed that face. _Loathed the Uchiha black eyes that reminded her of those ones that brought the alliance to their knees._

A smile curled at her lips, eyeing the unfamiliar fuinjutsu test section. _Of course with Tobirama in charge, sealing would be covered more in depth than 'here's a storage scroll, now use it'. _Maybe her academy days wouldn't be as boring as she thought they'd be. Plus, with her answering all those questions, maybe she might get shoved into that 'advanced' class Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui kept going on about.

Humming quietly as she scrawled answer after answer, she allowed her thoughts to turn to other matters. _Like her 'eternal rival' and Itachi and Shisui… _A smile curved at her lips. Perhaps she might see them later, after all the tests were over. They were a good distraction, and they were tolerable, Renka less so, but that wouldn't deter her.

_She really was getting comfortable with her life there… _A frown marred her face as she closed the test paper, eyeing the time. She'd finished with twenty minutes to spare. _And it begged the question of when everything would crumble down around her._

It had happened far too often for her to think about any other outcome.

"Finished?" Iruka smiled down at her. "You've got twenty minutes still to check all your answers."

Sakura sighed, pressing her test paper into his hands that much more forcefully. "I'm done," she murmured, hurrying out of the room, silently wondering about all her sisters. The ones at home should've been fine, especially with her earth clone there as backup, and Akira and Mio were there in the academy. Everything should've been well.

Her shoulders slumped in relief.

"ETERNAL RIVAL!"

She jumped to the side, head snapping around just as Renka dived at the spot she'd just been standing in. "Oh…" Sakura said, staring at her wonderful friend, staying still just long enough for those arms to catch her in a vicelike hug. "Ugh." Her back slammed into the ground with a loud thump, a groan escaping her as Renka practically sat on top of her with that beaming grin in place.

"You're here! How was the test? You did awesomely, didn't you? Have you done the practical part? I bet you kicked everybody's backsides!" Words streamed from her mouth like water from a fountain, and Sakura felt her head beginning to spin. "As expected of my rival! You're the best, Sakura!"

Her traitorous cheeks pinkened. "Get off me, you blithering idiot!"

"Get off her, Renka-chan," Tobirama's voice made Sakura nearly jump in surprise as he stood in the corridor watching the pair of them. "You aren't even supposed to be here."

"But Tobi-oji, she's my rival! Of course I have to come and see her. Regular meetups are essential for a good eternal rivalry according to Gai-sensei," Renka said. "'Sides, it's not like I'm the only one who came. I dragged that black-haired guy along. The one that's BFFs with my eternal rival!"

Itachi poked his head through the open window from where he was standing on the sill outside. "Renka-chan was very insistent about coming and seeing her eternal rival—" his lips twitched almost imperceptibly "—and there were no duties I had to attend to."

"Get in," Tobirama ordered, glaring at him. "I don't need any accidents involving windows."

"It's not like he'll fall out the window or anything," Sakura muttered. "He's not stupid."

Tobirama rolled his eyes. "I take it you're finished with your written test."

One pink eyebrow rose.

"Don't give me that look," he said, turning swiftly on his heel. "You have an hour and a half break for lunch, and then you'll be doing your physical and fitness tests, so don't eat too much of that gigantic bento you brought."

"It's for me and my sisters to share," Sakura grumbled.

"They'll be out in…" Tobirama glanced at the clock on the wall above the doorway to his office. "Fifteen minutes. Try not to burn down the school before then."

Renka grinned toothily. "So after is OK?"

"Don't get smart with me, brat," he muttered, vanishing back inside his office, and left to their own devices, Sakura decided to make her way to the playground. _Though it was better to call it a training ground. They weren't civilians. _

The pair of them followed her like silent shadows, dogging her footsteps as she found a nice spot underneath the large leafy tree littered with scratch marks higher up from where kunai or shuriken had been thrown. _What for, Sakura didn't know. There were perfectly good target posts a matter of feet away. _Stretching her arms above her head, she pulled the large bento out of her bag, setting it down in front of her as she waited for her sisters to finish their own tests. _They should've done fairly decently. She'd drilled enough information into their brains. _Grimacing at the memory of trying to teach Akira, she silently pitied her future sensei. _Good luck to them, they'd need it. _

"Oh, so you haven't got to fight anyone just yet then?" Renka tilted her head, sinking back against -the rough bark of the tree on her left, as Itachi sat quietly to her right. "I thought they'd have already done the practical stuff, but I guess they space stuff out a _whole _lot more now. But don't worry. You're my rival, so there's no doubt you'll beat everyone else into the dirt. I certainly did!"

Sakura swallowed along with Itachi. _Renka had quite the blasé personality when it came to violence, as well as being loud and proud, and she was still getting used to the older girl._

"You'll do fine," Itachi said, his voice a quiet murmur. "Though I doubt you're worried about these tests too much. I suspect there are other things occupying that mind of yours."

Sakura stiffened. "Yeah, I suppose," she said, blinking as she remembered she was sitting next to a future S-Rank shinobi in the making. _She had plenty to worry about, and none of that included academy work. _Her poor brain was practically overloaded, what with her situation and her declining health. _The lack of sleep probably wasn't helping matters, but what could she do? _She needed to train. Needed to look after her sisters, especially with their aunt working as hard as she was. She had to keep them all safe. Keep all of them from utilising their sharingan – not that there was much danger of that anytime soon. _It would only activate as a last resort since their bodies knew better than to use too much chakra… and it wasn't like they knew how to push chakra into their eyes anyhow. _Her shoulders drooped. _Yep, that was a lot to think about._

"SAKU-NEE!"

She groaned, feeling herself being sat on again for the second time that day. "What's up, Aki-chan?" she questioned, staring up at the upset expression on her face.

"That test was _super _hard." Her lower lip wobbled dangerously. "_Really really _hard…"

Sakura sighed, prodding her sister's forehead even as she was squished beneath her weight. "I'm sure you've done fine. I spent enough time hammering everything into that puny brain of yours." Itachi's gaze bore into her, and she was acutely reminded that was the first time he'd witnessed her own forehead prodding technique. _Dimly she wondered how his own compared to hers._

Probably vastly superior, but Sakura didn't particularly care.

"Nee-chan?" Mio stood in front of her, smiling hesitantly. "Are we gonna eat anytime soon?" she asked. "I'm starving."

Her lips twitched into a grin. "Well, no point in waiting around, I guess." She nudged her sister off her lap, cracking open the lunch she'd made. "Dig in."

_She'd worry about what was in store for her next after she'd eaten._


	18. Chapter 18: Academy Battles

Fighting did come after lunch, and Sakura had never been more grateful she'd eaten a light lunch. _She'd probably have thrown up otherwise, and Sakura didn't want to do that. It wouldn't give a very good impression of her to all her potential classmates. _Renka and Itachi had vanished back off to whatever they were doing before, and she was oddly bored as she watched the others spar. It was a tournament style melee, meant to gauge their ability. Clan children and civilians had been separated in order to make things fair. Not that it was particularly fair with Sakura in the rankings with the _civilians_.

Sakura sighed, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on a bench at the edge of the makeshift sparring rings. She'd already had all her fights and had unsurprisingly won them all. She knew where to hit them to make them hurt, and she did so with lightning fast strikes and unnerving precision. She'd rank top out of all the civilians. That much was certain. A quick glance over at the clan children told her that both Naruto and Sasuke were dominating. For the boys at least. Not only had they been separated by parentage, but by gender as well. _Though Sakura had thoroughly questioned Mizuki, the boy watching over them, and it had been confirmed all the sparring practices would merge together by their final year in the academy. _

"Sakura-chan?" a nameless chunin called her over, and she blinked in surprise. _It seemed she still had a few fights to go. _"We'll now be testing the gap between the best students of each group."

Her eyes locked on Sasuke as he stood there, smug as ever, his eyes occasionally darting over to where Mio stood. _But more than not Mio was looking at her. _Sakura was only fortunate she hadn't had to face either of her siblings in any of her fights. Not that they'd made it exceptionally far with their meagre fighting abilities. _She'd been too focused on teaching them how to run away – to run away and survive, no matter how cowardly it might seem._

She blinked, hands tucked into her pockets, her steps languid and silent as she strode into the ring, eyeing the civilian boy standing on the other side of the slightly larger ring.

_She wondered what to pick up from the market to cook for dinner. _She bit her lip. _Tomoe would likely be out, but she'd probably come back around ten o'clock, once she'd tucked the rest of her sisters in._

"Sakura-chan, pay attention," the chunin overseeing the next set of fights barked, glaring at her as she stared off into space. _The sky was a pretty shade of blue_. "Now Daisuke-kun, give it your all."

One pink brow arched. "No encouragement for me?" she mumbled, eyeing up her next opponent – a chubby boy who knew how to use his extra weight to his advantage. _What was the bet he bullied people to figure that out? _She tilted her head. _She'd seen him doing it around the village._

"Go Saku-nee!" Akira yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

A smile curved at her lips underneath her velvety soft mask. _Tobirama definitely knew the best masks to purchase. _Her eyes glittered, her stance deceptively relaxed even as the chunin proctor looked on, unimpressed. _Probably wasn't expecting too much from her. _"Ready," he called, and Sakura rocked forwards onto her toes, anticipation clawing through her as she pulled her hands out from her pockets. "Fight!"

Sakura grinned, practically dancing out of the way of the sloppy, yet somehow decent attack – for a five-year-old that was. _But she wasn't just an everyday five-year-old. _She sidestepped his next punch, stepping into his range, dropping low as she swung a foot around and into the backs of his knees. A smirk fought its way onto her lips, thankfully hidden in all its Uchiha glory as she knocked his legs out from under him. Lunging forwards, her fist stopping millimetres away from his throat, and she looked at the chunin overseeing them, eyebrow raised.

"The match goes to Sakura-chan. Please stand and make the seal of reconciliation," he said, voice unusually blank as he watched her.

"Need a hand?" she offered, nearly rolling her eyes as her hand was battered away and the grumpy boy stood on his own. _The sound of sniggers coming from all around them weren't helping either. _Though that might soon change, she mused, watching as Hinata stepped into the ring.

"Quieten down please," the chunin spoke, looking between the two of them. "Are you alright to continue, Sakura-chan, or would you like a break?"

Sakura glared at him witheringly. "I'm fine. Proceed."

He bristled at her tone ever so slightly. "Very well. Are you both ready?"

She nodded.

"Y-Yes," Hinata stammered.

Sakura almost scowled at the stutter. _She'd forgotten how shy Hinata was before everything. _Her hands curled into fists unconsciously. _Hinata wasn't supposed to be weak. _Those pale lavender eyes weren't supposed to remind her of those irritating green ones burnt into her mind.

"Fight!"

She leapt away from the gentle fist strike, blinking placidly in surprise. _So they were allowing clan children to use their specific styles to gauge their abilities. That made sense. _Though all the gentle fist strikes that had been directed her way had been far faster than Hinata's current speed. _And Hinata made the fatal mistake of not thinking out her next move – should she miss her first strike. _But then Sakura, when she'd actually been five, hadn't been the greatest at planning a battle strategy. Tsunade had to punch those thoughts into her skull, quite literally in her case too. _And if Hinata was going to use the slightest bit of chakra with her strikes, then so was she. _A wicked grin stole her lips, hand clenched into her fist as she ducked down just as had before, ploughing her fist straight into her opponent's gut.

Hinata stumbled back, gagging, and Sakura – being the well-trained shinobi she was – made full use of that fact, forcing the slightly taller girl to the ground. _She was irritatingly short for her age, though she supposed it meant there was less of her available to hit._

"You're awesome, nee-chan!" Akira called, and Sakura knew her sister was grinning as the chunin once again called. She'd never had any siblings calling out encouragement or anything of the like before. Then again, she hadn't known the joy of having siblings. _Even if she'd had them, she doubted she would've appreciated them as she should. _

Sakura turned, gaze softening as she met the black-eyed gleaming stare of her triplet, her eyes flickering over to where Mio stood. Mio was smiling widely too, even if she wasn't yelling out like the youngest of their triplet group.

"Well then," the chunin spoke, reclaiming her attention as one Uchiha Sasuke stepped into the ring with her. "Are you both OK to proceed?"

Sakura nodded along with Sasuke.

"Today's the day I beat you, Sakura!" Sasuke hissed, charging forwards on the signal, and Sakura grinned. _Ah, baby Sasuke was really so adorable, _she thought to herself, easily avoiding his wild swipes as he tried to throw her off balance. Not that it worked. _Not that it ever worked. _She darted to the side, his fist whistling past her cheek. _Baby Sasuke was so adorable, _she thought once more, lifting her arm, elbow and all, slamming her fist into his face. _And so very stupid too. _

Blood spurted from his nose, and the chunin called the match. _Yet again in her favour. _She smirked, watching as the adult fussed over Sasuke's very broken nose. There was no way in hell she was ever going to go easy on the kid when it came to fighting. He was a total brat. _A sister stealing brat_. _Plus there was that small vindictive part of her that whispered: this is what you get for running off with Orochimaru and leaving me unconscious on a damned park bench. _Her heart ached every time she thought about that. About those times before the world went to hell in a handbasket.

Hairs on the back of her neck pricked, a slow clap resounding through the air, and Sakura turned to face Senju Tobirama as he walked out from the shadows of the Academy. "Nice fight," he said, red eyes locked with hers even as Sasuke was whisked to the nurse's office. "And that concludes all the academy tests," he continued, and Sakura shivered as his eyes remained locked on her own. _Had she done something phenomenally stupid or something? _Well, aside from winning the damned tournament fight thingy. _Though it was hardly like she could've lost on purpose. _Tobirama had seen her take down adults with bricks and her fists. Children were child's play, funnily enough. "Your results will be mailed to you within the week, and I hope to see many of you in lessons starting next Monday."

_There were no doubts she'd passed. _Sakura couldn't be any more certain after her performance. Her smile faded, eyes darting over to where her sisters stood. They were the ones she needed to worry about, especially with that nervous expression on Akira's face as the chunin dismissed them. _No doubt she'd have to spend the night reassuring her sibling. _But first, she needed to visit the market to pick up dinner with the scant amount of money she'd brought to the academy for that very reason.

"Saku-nee, you were _super _awesome out there! You were like bam, and then they were down," Akira chattered excitedly, having materialised next to her as she made her way towards the gate. "Wish I was as good as that…"

Sakura mussed her silky long locks. "One day, Aki-chan… one day," she murmured. "Right, Imma head to the market to pick up what we need for dinner, so you two should start heading back. I'll catch up in fifteen minutes."

"Nee-chan, we'll be home in fifteen minutes," Akira complained.

"Then I'll meet you at home."

"But I wanna walk home with you—"

"Come on, Aki," Mio said, yawning as she pulled on their sister's arm. "We need to get home before Sora and Seiren break the apartment."

Sakura turned her head, walking towards the marketplace in the very heart of Konoha, watching out of the corner of her eye as her sisters headed home. Sighing quietly, she upped her pace, barely blinking as a familiar figure fell in step with her. "Did you really have to break his nose?"

"Nice to see you too, Itachi," she mumbled, smothering her own yawn as she arrived at the markets and made her way towards the cheapest, decent fish she could find. "An to answer your question, it was Sasuke, so yes." She glanced over at him. "Where's your shadow by the way? He's been missing for a little while."

"Shisui is currently on a C-Rank mission."

"Let's hope it doesn't turn into an A-Rank, then," she murmured, ignoring Itachi's confused stare as she purchased the fish and moved on to find some vegetables. They already had rice at home. "You got a reason to be at the market, or were you just following me?"

His sheepish expression told her everything she needed.

"Well," she said, hefting the bags of food up. "I've got everything I need, so I'll be heading on home. You're welcome to tag along, if you want to for some stupid reason, but you can't stay for dinner. I suspect your mother will be expecting you back anyway, so no loss there." She didn't wait for a reply, simply walking away and back to her home. _She had sisters she needed to take care of, just like how Itachi had a brother to console after his hundredth or so consecutive loss to her. _Sakura smirked. There was no way in hell Sasuke was catching up anytime soon.

She trudged through the streets, making her way to the seedier parts of Konoha, arriving home after her scheduled fifteen minutes, knocking on the door, smiling at her clone opened to door. "I'm home," she called, surveying the living room. _Everything appeared to still be in working order._

"Nee-chan!" Seiren popped her head out from the bedroom. "Welcome back!"

"Saku-nee's here?" Akira poked her head around the doorframe.

One pink brow rose. "There's a wonderful thing called ears. You should use them sometime," she said, pinching Akira's cheek as she was engulfed in a wide hug. "Now you can either play with the others, or you can both help me make dinner. It's rice and fish with vegetables."

"Eww. Yucky vegetables…"

"But you're still going to eat them," Sakura said, smiling sweetly at her sister. "Even if I have to force them down your throat."

"Nee-chan, you're kinda scary…"


	19. Chapter 19: The Wait For Results

"Are the results in yet?" Akira bounced onto the tips of her toes. "Did we get in?" She flittered around – a ball of nervous energy as they waited and waited. "What if I failed? What if I'm the only one who failed? Noooo… That can't happen, can it, Saku-nee?"

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch as she stood behind the stove, a bowl of pancake mixture in her hands. A triangular head scarf was in place on her head, keeping her spiky pink hair out of her face, ensuring it cascaded down her back in a somewhat orderly fashion. _Deep breaths, _she reminded herself, resisting the urge to wipe at her tired eyes. _Her sisters didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of her shortened temper. They were too adorable for that. _"Calm down, Aki-chan," she said, setting down the batter on the side, deciding it was in her best interests to calm her sibling as best she could before she did something she'd regret. _Like snap at her cute sister. _She couldn't bring herself to be angry at that adorable face so much like their mothers that it hurt. _That was a raw wound in her chest. A reminder of her continued failure to protect all her precious people._

"But nee-chan!" Akira's hands fisted in the slightly too-large apron Sakura wore, their noses practically touching as Akira pulled her back and forth in her worrying. "What if I messed up on that test? What if I was really lame in my fights…? I only won three, and the last one was super close!"

Sighing, Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand, the other lancing out to poke at her sister's forehead. "Hush. Stop worrying," she said softly, smiling at her idiot of a sibling. "If you fail, then there's always next year. Admissions are open until the age of eight." _Though the requirements became stricter each year. _"But I taught you everything you needed to know." Her hands clamped down on her sister's shoulders, a toothy, threatening grin on her lips. "So any failure would be down to my part, unless you didn't revise or train as much as I told you to…"

Seiren smirked from where she sat, next to her twin. "Told you nee-chan can be super scary," she said smugly.

Sora turned her head away from her twin. "Hn."

Sakura felt her eyebrow spasm. _The Uchiha-ness was spreading and infecting them all. _"Stop pacing about, and just relax, would you?" she spoke, prying herself out of her sister's grasp. "It won't make the results come any sooner, so just play with the twins and the triplets. You won't be able to do that as much once you get accepted to the academy."

"You think I've passed?" Akira blinked.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You'll start at the academy eventually, no matter how many times I need to beat all the necessary information into that thick skull of yours," Sakura said, grinning sadistically, relishing when she spotted the shudders running down her sibling's spine. _Her sisters were adorable, and clearly she'd spent too much time hanging around T&I in her last life. _"Go and bring the twins to the table, would you? Pancakes are nearly ready," she said, returning to the oiled pan, lifting up the mixing bowl.

"Nee-chan makes awesome pancakes," Seiren declared, ignorant of the way it made a warm fuzzy feeling build in Sakura's gut. "They're the _best_."

"Nee-chan's are the only ones we've ever had, stupid," Sora grumbled. "Not like we can try those shop-made ones the other kids are always waving in our face. Oh…" She blinked, and Sakura felt a gaze bore into her back as she loaded the first pancake onto the plate, the heat seal she'd painstakingly carved and inked already humming with chakra. "Saku-nee, what's a whore?"

Sakura choked on her saliva, pouring the next bit of batter into the pan. "Uh. Where did you hear that?" she hissed, barely able to keep the surprise and snarl out of her voice. "_Or should I say who?"_

"Oh, just some bigger kids at the park."

"_Names. I want names. Names and descriptions," _she snarled, setting the pan off to one side, grabbing the nearest piece of paper and pen, scrawling words down before she planted it down in front of her four-year-old sister. She hurried back to her cooking, hearing the sounds of both the triplets and the twins being herded towards the main room.

"What's a whore, nee-chan?" Seiren asked, repeating her twin's earlier question. "Tell us! Tell us!"

Sakura turned, even while flipping yet another pancake, smiling sweetly even as her eyes promised unholy vengeance. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Aww, but I wanna know now!" Seiren complained.

"Nee-chan." Sora looked up from the sheet of paper she'd painstakingly ordered the smaller girl to fill out. "Why's this called 'The Hit List'?"

A grin cracked at her lips, wild and manic. "You don't need to know, Sora… You don't need to know…" Her gaze flittered back over to Seiren. "And as for that word… let's just say it's a very very bad word, which you shouldn't say, m'kay?"

"Why's it bad?"

One pink brow twitched. "It's a mean thing to call someone, so don't say it in front of the other twins and triplets, understood? They don't need to hear that language."

"Oh… OK." Seiren bit her lip, scratching at her duck butt of a hairstyle. Both she and Sora were oddly persistent when it came to asking Sakura to keep their hair short, and no doubt another trim was due soon enough. "They said mean words about kaa-chan… said that's what their parents told 'em."

"_They'll regret that, mark my words," _Sakura snarled, quickly erasing all traces of her rage at the fear that flashed across both of their faces. She couldn't be _too _scary about her siblings.

"Come on," Mio spoke, pushing open the bedroom door just as Sakura piled the last of the numerous pancakes onto the plate. "Sakura-nee has made us pancakes!"

"Pancakes!" Tora cheered, dragging the other two of her triplet group to the table. _Yet another one of her siblings who wanted to keep her hair short in a rather unflattering bowl cut. Sakura silently resolved to make it look more like little Hinata's the first chance she got_. "Nee-chan you're the best!" _Her new world would make a hairstylist out of her yet._

Ran smiled at her silently as Tora pulled her into their seats opposite the older twins. Sakura returned it tenfold, carefully gathering up the large stack of pancakes, carrying them plate and all out to the table. Yumi just rolled with it, already far too accustomed to her triplet's antics. They were so different from the older twins who were always at each other's throats.

_And the two youngest… _

Sakura blinked as she felt a tug on the apron she still wore, eyes softening as little Nozomi tried to get her attention. _What for exactly became obvious as she sat down, and her little sister crawled into her lap. _Akane was busy pestering Mio and Akira, and Sakura sighed softly as the large stack was passed around. _Just another morning in the house, with their aunt sleeping in her room, and all of them dinning together. _A smile pulled at her lips, even as she snuck her newest hit list away from Sora, tucking it into her pocket. _She'd deal with it later. _

She picked up the spoon with one hand, helping Nozomi with her breakfast as she ate her own with her other hand. _One of the perks of having decent coordination with both hands._

"Spikes all over beat that chicken butt on the back of your head," Sora bickered, mouth full of pancakes and sugar.

"Nu uh!"

"Pass the water."

Sakura eyed Tora. "What do we say?" she asked, eyebrow arched.

"Ugh. Please."

Sakura reached over to flick her on the nose. "Manners will get you far in life."

"Don't steal my pancake, Tora!"

"Tora," she cautioned, eyeing her sister. "Don't steal Yumi's pancake. You have your own."

"Say ah, Kane-chan!" Akira said, beaming down at one of their littlest sisters, forkful of pancake in hand.

"Ah!"

"Don't give her too bigger bites, Aki-chan," Mio cautioned, and Sakura knew the pair of them had the situation well in hand. Mio always was the more sensible one out of all of them. _Not including herself, of course._

Sakura batted the golden syrup away from Tora's hands. "That's enough on your pancake, missy," she said, turning away from the pout the little triplet threw her way. "Honestly, do you want your teeth to decay or something—Oh, shoot," Sakura winced, spying just who had ended up with the syrup next. "Mio!"

"Akane, put the syrup down!" Mio barked, but it was too late. She, Akira, and the second youngest were already covered with a smattering of sticky syrup. "Yuck. Now we're all sticky."

A soft sigh escaped her, and Sakura stared up at the ceiling, silently praying for something to give her strength. _This was why she only made pancakes once a week at most, and only cracked out the golden syrup when they were all near enough due for a bath. _Movement in the corner of her eye made her freeze, a bright flash of reflected light nearly blinding her as she glanced at the window, eyes narrowing before she shook her head. _The sunlight wasn't pouring through that window, and it was a bit shaded. _Maybe the light had come another window. Or maybe one of those idiots had peeked in on them to check what they were doing. _They still did that on occasion. _Sakura refused to acknowledge the fuzziness in her gut when she caught them in the act.

Sakura lifted her fork back to her lips, blinking as she realised the pancake that'd been speared on the end of it was missing. Nozomi giggled, and she smiled softly. _They were all so adorable, no matter how much of a mess they always seemed to make. _She polished off the rest of her breakfast at record speed, not wanting to lose any more of it to her cute little sister on her lap. "Right," she said, looking around at her sisters and their empty plates. "Bath time, I think."

"Please," Mio mumbled, eyeing the sticky trails of syrup running down her arms.

"You gonna cut my hair again, nee-chan?" Sora looked up at her.

"No, she's gonna cut mine," Seiren said, elbowing her twin out of the way. "My hair needs it more!"

"No your ugly chicken butt doesn't need trimming!"

Sakura blinked, staring down at the heated argument over _haircuts _of all things. Sighing yet again, she poked their foreheads. "I'll be giving everyone a little trim, but only if you all get in the bathroom," she said, ushering the pair towards the little bathroom. It was a rather large room for a bathroom that was for sure, but with all ten of them in there, despite their small sizes, it was a bit cramped. Sakura pulled the door to behind her, counting all her nine siblings in varying states of undress, watching as Mio turned the shower on, making her incredibly grateful all the bathroom was tiled all around the shower area as water splashed almost everywhere. Soap was already being thrown around, the shampoo not far behind, and she knew the conditioner would soon be added into the mix. Sakura felt her shoulders slump. _She really didn't know why she'd been expecting anything to be any more orderly. She'd shared enough baths with all of her siblings to know the truth by that point – they were all horribly messy little monsters._

"Sakura-nee!" Mio called her over, sitting on the stool, shampoo in her hair, and Sakura ignored the water and the soap being thrown. "Hair."

"Just a trim, right?" she called, quickly finding the comb and the scissors stored in the bathroom for occasions such as this one.

"Yep!"

"Aww, why does Mio get to go first?" Sora grumbled.

Akira smirked, lathering soap onto her sibling's smaller back as they sat on two of the other small wooden stools kept in the bathroom. "It's 'coz we're older!"

"Your turn will come eventually, Sor," Sakura called, peering down at the silky pink locks. "Just be patient for me."

Folding her arms, her little sister grunted. "Hn."

Sakura sighed at the far too familiar noise, mindlessly combing and cutting her way through her sisters' hair. _She'd never thought all of Ino's instructions in the art of hair care and hair cutting would come in handy like this. _The scent of the shampoo was mild enough, but it still caught on the back of her throat, especially with how many heads of hair she had to wash and cut, and Sakura coughed – grateful that the sound was mostly covered by the splashing of water and giggling of her siblings.

"Nee-chan?" Mio looked at her from where she sat in the tub with Akane.

She smiled, washing away the spots of blood concealed in the middle of her palm as she rinsed the conditioner from Nozomi's freshly trimmed hair. "I'm fine, Mio. Don't look so worried. It's just a little cough."

_A little cough she somehow needed to hide thanks to the physicals coming up for the academy. _She bit her lip, sending Tora over to the tub, watching as Sora and Seiren dried themselves off under the less than watchful gaze of Akira. _A thin coating of chakra to her lungs for the duration of the whatever tests were done would probably hide it just about for that years. Whatever was wrong with her lungs was only in the early stages. Next year's physicals, should there be any – and knowing Tobirama even for the short time she had, there was no doubt there'd be some sort of yearly health check-up – would be a whole other ballgame. _She rubbed at her chest. _She'd pull through the academy even with them in the state they were. She had to. There was no other option._

"Saku-nee!"

Blinking, she paused, mid scrub, eyes widening as she felt a comb in her messy hair. "Wait—"

_Snip._

"No, twin, you're doing it wrong," Seiren said, and Sakura felt another presence creep up behind her. "You made it lopsided now."

_Snip._

"See. That looks better."

Akira padded towards them, nudging the pair to the side as she leant in close. "Lemme see."

"No more cutting my hair!" Sakura hissed, edging forwards away from the hands pawing at her fluffy wet pink locks.

"Well, at least it looks somewhat straight now…" Akira mused. "Even if it is a little bit diagonal…"

Sakura sighed, washing out the shampoo, quickly conditioning her hair and rinsing it out, if only to get away from her scissor-wielding siblings that much sooner. "Diagonal is fine," she said, climbing in the tub of lukewarm water to soak, smiling even as Nozomi cuddled up to her in there. _Nudity wasn't really an issue, given how young they were, even less so because they were all related. It was slightly alarming how easily she was adjusting to her younger body. _She'd never got the chance the bathe with siblings in her last life thanks to a certain lack of them. Though the novelty of now having _nine _of them to do just that was quickly wearing off, if only because of the amount of corralling and supervision they all needed.

The water cooled quickly, and Sakura wasted no time in lifting both herself and her littlest sister out. _It wouldn't do for Nozomi to catch a cold. _Not with how young she was – only a little over a year. Plus with academy season coming up, she wouldn't be able to stay home and take care of them as she'd have liked to. _She'd have to rely on a clone to do that, and a clone wasn't as good as her._

Yawning, she dried herself off, pulling her clothes back on, somewhat sad and glad the weekly ordeal was over and done with. _Well, it was probably more like monthly in regards to the haircuts, but their weekly shared bath was over and done with._

A tug on her pant leg had her attention back on the youngest of her siblings.

Nozomi stared up at her, yawning just as widely, one hand curled in the fabric of her trousers, the other closed around a battered storybook. "Read?" she asked, big black eyes staring up into her narrower ones. "Pwetty please?"

Her resistance crumpled under the puppy dog eyes her sister employed, and Sakura smiled softly. "Sure thing, buttercup," she mumbled, leading Nozomi into their shared bedroom, her grin only widening as she heard the pitter patter of Akane's footsteps as she hurried to join them. _They both loved their stories… and they loved them even more when Sakura narrated them. _Sitting down on their shared futon, Sakura cracked open the worn book, watching as they snuggled under the covers, ready for their daily nap. "The Tales of the Shinobi Princess began in a land far far away…"

* * *

"Now," she said, smiling at the honey-covered half-naked boy tied to the tree as the sound of bees buzzing from the nearby nest reached them. "What are you _never going to do again_?" she asked, pulling down the gag over his mouth as she waited for an answer.

"Please…" he whispered, shaking as the hum of bees grew ever closer.

She grinned, teeth bared. "I'm waiting…"

"I—I'll never teach your sisters another bad word," he shrieked, squirming in his binds. "Now could you please untie me?"

Sakura hummed in contemplation. "Nope," she said, smirking as she turned and skipped away. "But just remember I can and will do worse if you dare to utter any more bad words around my siblings. Bye bye!" she called over her shoulder, ignoring the screamed pleas for her to come back. She hummed under her breath as she checked the last name off her hitlist, ducking under the nude form of the boy she'd tied upside-down from the tree branch which arched over the middle of the empty street a little earlier on. _Well, the currently empty street, anyhow. It'd get busier in a matter of minutes. That was for sure. _She'd dealt with all of them that very day, only stopping to return home for a couple of hours to make her siblings lunch before resuming her hunt.

She glanced over at the setting sun, sighing as she headed back home, ready to make dinner for her sisters and her aunt. _That day had been a good one. A somewhat relaxing one, and probably one of the last of those that she'd have for a while. _She would be attending the academy soon enough, and with that came the watchful eye of one Senju Tobirama. Her shoulders slumped. _She just needed to take it a day at a time… remember her plans… _

"I'm home!" she called, walking in through the door, blinking as she caught sight of one exhausted Tomoe busy behind the kitchen counters.

"Ah, welcome home, Sakura-chan," Tomoe called, wiping at tired eyes as she continued cooking dinner. "I got off my shift a little earlier, so dinner is on me tonight. You go play with yours sisters. They've missed you while you were out in town."

"Sure thing, oba-san!" She nodded. "Let me know if you need any help."

"I'll be fine, missy, so go and enjoy your time with your sisters. You won't have much of it to spare if you make it into the academy."

"I'll make it into the academy. There's no doubt about that," she mumbled, heading into their bedroom, blinking tiredly, glancing out the window at how low the sun was hanging in the sky. "I'm ba—"

Her eyes widened, sharingan swirling to life almost unconsciously as she caught that sudden flare of light again. Once might have been a coincidence. Twice was something else. _Light reflecting off a hitai-ate, and with her sharingan she'd finally caught the glimpse of what it was even as it vanished out of sight seconds later – what was engraved on it, and the sight made her blood run cold as it was burnt into her memories._

_A musical note._

Sakura bit her lip. She really hated Oto, and she hated their kage even more. _But why on earth was there a spy for Orochimaru hanging around her home? She wasn't sure. _Sakura hated being unsure.

Her hand closed around the knife under her pillow later that night, the cool familiar weight of steel being the only thing that allowed her to get a wink of sleep.

She really hated uncertainties, especially when her sisters were at stake.


	20. Chapter 20: Sakura, Sound & Sleuthing

"Nee-chan!"

Sakura grunted, feeling a weight impact her stomach, and blearily she opened her eyes. "Huh?" She blinked, staring at how dark it still was. _Why was Akira awake? _Even she usually would not have been awake at that hour. "Aki-chan?" she slurred, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What're you doing up?"

"They're here!"

Sakura sat bolt upright. "Who?"

Akira held out a large envelope she could barely make out in the early dawn light. "The results, silly!" she said with a giggle. "Can we go and open them? I wanted to open them with you and Mio-nee… but I can't wait any longer!"

"Ugh." Sakura rubbed at her eyes. "Fine… but we should go to the other room," she said, yawning as she pulled herself out from under the covers. "It won't do us any good if we wake the others…"

"I'll get Mio!" Akira declared.

"Shh!" Sakura hissed, making her bed back up before she headed out into the living room, yawning again as Mio and Akira followed her like little ducklings. "Alright, lemme get the lights," she mumbled, gesturing for them to sit at the table while she went and switched the lights on.

"Hurry up, Saku-nee!" Akira demanded, and Sakura scowled.

"Patience, Aki-chan," she said, sitting herself down on the other side of her sibling. "Now let's open this and see whether we all passed."

Akira pressed the letter into her hands all of a sudden. "I don't wanna open it… you open it, nee-chan!"

Sakura sighed. "Right," she said, breaking the seal on the envelope, relief flooding through her when she scanned through each of the letters. "We all passed," she informed them, handing them each of their acceptance letters, eyes locking on her own.

"I'm in class 1-C!" Akira said, climbing to her feet, jumping around in joy. "I did it! I did it!"

"I'm in class 1-D…" Mio mumbled, frowning ever so slightly as she sat quietly at the table.

"They probably split you up – being siblings and all," she said, looking for her own class number, almost smirking when she spotted her designation. "It seems I'm in class S…"

"No number in front of it?" Mio peered down at her letter, curious.

"You think that's the super special class they told us about?" Akira asked, pausing in her celebrations to peer over her shoulder curiously. "Saku-nee is awesome, after all!"

Sakura smiled at that. "Too right I am," she said, preening under both their gazes. _She was allowed to have self-confidence in herself and her abilities… unlike one Haruno Sakura. _Her lip curled at the thought, mood souring as she thought on the _pathetic _girl. Sakura shook her head. _She didn't need thoughts like that ruining her mood. _Instead, she held her head high, basking in the recognition she'd received due to her abilities. She was strong – just like she had always wanted to be, and everything was going to be better than her first life from that point onwards.

Or so she thought until the first day of the academy began – and it began inside one Senju Tobirama's office, with Uchiha Fugaku, father of Sasuke, at his side.

"Sakura-chan," Tobirama began, looking utterly exasperated by the paperwork in front of him. "Why do I have a report here about you tying a boy to a tree and inciting bees to attack him? That's not the only one with you written as the likely culprit either."

Sakura blinked, shifting ever so slightly on her feet as the two actual adults stared down at her with varying expressions of dismay and disappointment. "I don't remember doing anything like that," she said, folding her arms as she fixed her glare on the white-haired man.

"There were multiple eyewitness accounts, mostly of the children targeted—"

"Genjutsu," Sakura offered, staring at him unrepentantly. "What possible reason would I have to harm them, especially with my admission to the academy…?"

"Sakura-chan." Tobirama stared at her flatly. "If I find you doing anything of the sort again, then there will be consequences. You are an academy student now, and with that comes with expectations, both for yourself, for your future fellow Konoha-nin, and for those you will be protecting."

She folded her arms, looking to the side to escape the glare. "Hn."

Tobirama twitched, breathing deeply before letting out a long, exasperated sigh. "You should be getting to class now. Be prepared to stay behind today and write an essay on why cultivating healthy relationships with your peers is a good idea," he said, and Sakura felt appropriately cowed.

Writing lines was an utterly tedious task, and actually having to think about the lines to write made things ten times worse. It was hardly like he could give her something more difficult to do though – her body was horribly young and far too small for any other menial tasks, and Tobirama probably didn't want to psychologically traumatise her by giving her the so-called 'E-Ranks'. They were even more boring and simple than the dreaded D-Ranks, and one didn't even get paid for the privilege of completing them. Sakura tilted her head. _Were E-Rank missions still given as punishment for detentions? s_he wondered. She could still remember the time Kiba had been forced to do one for his antics. He'd been ill for two days after that thanks to the overpowering smells his sensitive nose had been subjected to. _So maybe they weren't. Early graduation wasn't allowed – so Tobirama clearly was concerned with his students' health, both of the physical and mental nature._

Though she needed to arrive back in good time to make dinner – and then she had to henge and hunt down the nearest bar to gather some information on the unwelcome guests in the neighbourhood. Letting out a huff, Sakura let herself out of his office. She was going to be having a busy day it seemed.

Her footsteps were silent on the floorboards, eyes flickering about as she tried to find the correct classroom. She had found 1-A, the classroom for the major clan kids, and 1-B, for the best civilian children and those of minor clans, was unsurprisingly right next to it. But there was no S classroom as far as she could see. Tilting her head, she looked over towards the stairs, shrugging as she headed up… and up yet again, until she reached the topmost floor before the highest roof. _She had once stared at Sasuke from that roof. _Shaking her head, Sakura allowed herself a smile as she finally spotted a classroom which hadn't existed in her last life.

Praying she was still on time, she slid the door open, stepping into the rather loud classroom. There were five rows of desks, and preformed groups of friends huddled about different desks. Her gaze darted over to where Itachi sat, by the window, and she made a beeline for him – hearing the door slide open once more behind her.

"RIVAL!"

A large weight collided with her side, and she crumpled to the ground at the surprise attack, scowling underneath her mask as she felt herself being cuddled to death.

"Sakura, you made it!"

"And as touching as this scene is, get to your seats," Tobirama's voice sounded, smoothly stepping over their sprawled forms, and Sakura stiffened – realising it was he who'd snuck in behind her. "To those of you joining this class this year, welcome. As some of you know by now—"

"Come on, Itachi saved us some seats!" Renka hissed as quietly as she could, a beaming smile on her face as they made their way up to the desk closest to the backmost window.

Sakura all but dived for the middle seat – so she could at least have some sanity in the form of Itachi next to her. Renka would then be an excellent buffer against the rest of their classmates, should they decide to check out the 'fresh meat'.

"—your teacher for today is—"

The slam of the door cut off Tobirama off, a very familiar Uchiha walking in through the door. "Lucky you!" Izuna sung, all but skipping to Tobirama's side. "You get me, though the grump over here will be supervising, given its our first session of the new term."

"We will be heading down to the usual training grounds, so please partner up. Groups of three are also acceptable," he continued, red eyes flickering over onto their group as Renka all but plastered herself to her side. "Most of you should be familiar with procedure by now, so please guide your new classmates."

"Let's go, Sakura!" Renka chirped, and Sakura only paused to glance back at Itachi, smiling underneath her mask as she offered her hand out.

"Shall we?" she inquired, tilting her head as she looked at him searchingly.

Itachi smiled back, taking her hand gently – a gentleness she couldn't quite reciprocate as Renka all but dragged her and, by extension, Itachi along with her.

"It's awesome!" Renka remarked, following Izuna dutifully as he led them down the stairs and out of the academy building. The sky was a bright blue above them, barely a cloud in sight, and the breeze was mild, if rather cool – perfect for her, considering the hoodie she wore. "You're finally here… my eternal rival is finally in the academy with me." Renka hopped from foot to foot gleefully. "It's gonna be so great. We can challenge each other every day now! It's gonna be so youthful Gai-sensei will cry…"

Sakura blinked. "Yay?"

Itachi snorted softly – so softly most would never have registered it, especially with Uchiha being one of the most dignified clans around.

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura ignored the usually stoic Uchiha beside her, following their mildly irritating instructor for the day to a rather spacious training ground. Renka was on her like a moth to a flame, and the rest of her first day went exactly as she expected – fighting the mini Hashirama clone until they were both lying on the ground, exhausted.

* * *

The village changed after dark. That much Sakura knew, and she could certainly attest to it as she prowled through the streets. The sun had gone down, twilight setting in, and Sakura made her way to the nearest bar. Her henge was that of a burly adult male – based off the carpenter whose shop she passed on the way to the academy – knowing she was less likely to attract the wrong sort of attention than if she went in henged in an adult form of herself.

The bar she chose was one of the seedier ones, the one more likely to host gossip and possibly some connections to the criminal underbelly that existed in Konoha. Shinobi made no move on it – it not being too much of a problem, considering it was mainly made up of civilians. Only the police force seemed to care, and only when they was a big enough incident.

To her, though, it would be helpful – after all, somewhere in that underbelly, her unwelcome visitors waited. Her eyes flickered around the patrons of the bar, and Sakura took note of them as she went and ordered her drink with the help of the wallet she'd filched off some drunkard a few streets back. Chatter sounded all around her, and Sakura went and sat down, her alcoholic beverage of choice in front of her. _She wasn't about to drink it, obviously, but fortunately there was a small potted plant on the windowsill – even if it seemed ridiculously out of place. _One Senju Hashirama had encouraged the people of Konoha to engage in gardening, so it was probably the result of that which had led to potted plants finding residence in most buildings.

It provided something to look at though, while she listened to the conversations going on around her. _The stupidest place to talk was somewhere quiet, especially when one wanted to blend in. _

"Himura's son is certainly something – you should have seen the pieces he crafted – and his father is getting damned insufferable—"

"Well his son did miraculously improve—"

"Maybe it's because he's actually paying attention to everything Himura teaches him now. That boy has been far too lazy as of late—"

"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. The shipment will be ruined…"

"The report is due on Monday," the voice rang out, and Sakura's eyes darted over to the businessman, and she eyed the stain on his shirt distastefully, covertly pouring some of her drink into the soil yet again. "I don't understand how we're expected to finish—"

"—totally saw you outside 'The Red Boar'… Why didn't you tell me you were going – I totally would've come along with you—"

"That's the place to go."

"—should get going. It's getting far too dangerous to stay out late, you know."

"Oh that's right! Sara gave birth recently, didn't she?"

Sakura ran a finger around the edge of her cup, sitting quietly there as she waited and listened. Information was invaluable, but only if she could find something actually related to what she needed to find – whom she needed to find. Though it wasn't like she expected the sound nin to wind up neatly gift-wrapped in her lap. Information and investigation. Those were the two important parts to her self-appointed mission.

Though she kind of hoped the village security would sort things out – not that she would ever entrust the entirety of her siblings' welfare to them. They had already failed her twice. She couldn't afford a second time.


	21. Chapter 21: genius

Blood spotted on the horribly pale skin of her hand as she coughed inside the bathroom. Sakura partially blamed her Uchiha genes there. _She was also sick, and paleness could present itself thanks to that fact. _Scowling, she washed her hands off with soap, watching as the reddish tinged water vanished down the sink. No one would know. No one could know.

_Besides, she could always soothe her lungs using her chakra if it became too bad. _It took the edge off, though it was nowhere near the kind of medical jutsu she had used before, and it was ten times harder thanks to the change in her chakra nature.

How she missed her soothing water-earth nature…But she would hold out until she became a genin. _Until she earnt money and had shinobi-grade healthcare. _Everything would be fine until then. There was no other option. She knew her own limits better than anyone else.

_Medics make the worst patients, _a voice vaguely reminiscent of Tsunade-shishou sounded.

Sakura shook her head. _She knew best – she was a medic, and she knew her limits. _The wastelands and Obito were the proof of that. She'd survived there for years until her jump to her new reality. There had been no one around for her to rely on there, aside from a grumpy Uchiha – and he was anything but reliable. Her arrival in the wrong timeline was case in point.

She was only grateful what she had wasn't contagious. Her siblings would have all been sick by that point if it was. They weren't – which meant it was something to do with her _unique _situation… or maybe some faulty genes. She blamed Obito, as per usual, and silently plotted on how best to prank him.

"You nearly done in there, Sakura-chan?" Tomoe called, knocking softly on the door.

Sakura hurried out, yawning all the while. "Mhm," she mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes even as her stomach grumbled. "Breakfast?"

"On the table, sweetie," Tomoe said, ruffling her hair for a few moments before she hurried into the bathroom. Vaguely, Sakura heard the sounds of her throwing up, and her eyes narrowed. _She hoped Tomoe wasn't coming down with anything too serious. _But Tomoe was an adult… who hopefully had health insurance if anything went south. _She was luckier than Sakura in that respect. _

"Saku-nee!" Mio called from across the table. "I saved you a seat."

Akira snorted. "You tried to steal her pancakes," she declared.

"Liar!" Mio hissed, hair bristling like a cat.

Sakura plonked herself down between them, claiming her portion of the pancakes Tomoe had so helpfully made. _Their family loved their pancakes. _She lathed the golden syrup on, figuring she deserved the extra sugar. _Maybe it would help her feel more awake? _she mused, chewing slowly on her breakfast as she prepared herself to face the day.

"Nee-chan?" A tug at her sleeve had her turning to face her youngest sibling. "Can you play with us today?"

She pulled at her messy mop of hair with another yawn. "Sorry, 'zomi," she mumbled through her yawn. "Gotta go to the academy… but maybe after?" she said, sleep clawing at her eyelids, her muscles aching far too hard from her morning training. _Maybe she had pushed herself a bit too hard. _She'd used a fairly decent chunk of chakra as well – but she still had enough to make a clone to watch over her little sisters

* * *

Sakura yawned, resting her head against the desk as she waited for the day to begin. Really, all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but there was no time for that. Her schedule was full, and classes were about to begin—

"Class S," Izuna announced, pulling the door open. "It's time for you sorry lot to report to the medical bay," he all but sang, and Sakura groaned as she realised it was already time for physicals. _Maybe she could escape via the window?_

"Come on!" Renka all but hauled her up from her not so comfy pillow, dragging her right to the very front of the makeshift line which was being formed. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to class and spar, Rival!"

Sakura grunted listlessly, gathering chakra towards her lungs, praying she'd have enough to get her through the exam without a hitch. If she'd known it would be physicals that day, she wouldn't have trained as hard in the morning. "You're way too enthusiastic about this," she muttered, glaring at the end of the corridor Renka was dragging her through – towards a door to a room which could ruin everything if whatever issue within her lungs was discovered. _She didn't want to say goodbye to her shinobi career before it could begin. _She had to pass it. There was no other choice.

Her stomach clenched anxiously as she waited there, so _not _ready to be called in – but the universe hated her, and all too soon she was inside a familiar-smelling room. Hospital bays always smelt the same, no matter whether they were in Konoha's main hospital or the one attached to the academy.

"Sakura," she offered to the pretty brunette nurse who looked over at her expectantly as she seated herself on the edge of the hospital bed.

As far as things went, the physical was just like she remembered others to be in her past life – though there were parts which were far more thorough than she remembered. _The parts around the lungs and heart were far too long for her liking. _It was more and more tiring the longer she coated her lungs in soothing chakra, preventing any abnormalities from being heard or seen by the lady's careful hands.

Silently, she prayed – though not to the damned universe because it hated her, as proven numerous times – that she had done enough. _Enough to keep herself there in the academy. Enough so she could graduate and then earn herself wonderfully free healthcare. _Only then could her lungs be fixed.

"Finally!" Renka exclaimed as she walked out of the door, looking and feeling completely and utterly drained – both in body and mind. "Come on! We need to catch up with 'tachi!" she shouted, dragging a very tired Sakura along behind her as she ran back to their classroom. "I think Izuna, or some other Uchiha is looking after our class for the rest of the day – whoever chose the daily, repetitive B-Rank Mission…"

Sakura blinked. "Wait… our class is worth a B-Rank Mission?" She peered over at her eternal rival, eyebrows raised at the new little snippet of information.

Renka nodded. "We're a class of baby geniuses, according to pretty much everybody," she remarked, chest puffing up in pride. "So supervising and training us is hard work – well, according to Tobi-oji." Humming quietly in amusement, they both arrived outside the door to their classroom. Renka's permanent smile turned into a cheeky grin. "Shall we see which sucker has gotten stuck with us for today?" she asked, infecting Sakura with a small amount of her enthusiasm, before she slid open the door.

Silvery hair met her curious stare, and Sakura felt her mouth drop open ever so slightly at the sight of Kakashi standing in the classroom. _The same Kakashi who had hated teaching in any and all forms in her last life. _Sakura blinked slowly. _What a strange world she was in…_

"Oh! It's Kakashi-san and Obito-san!" Renka exclaimed loudly, and Sakura froze – half in and half out of the room. Her head swivelled around, eyes locking on the figure which had been hidden behind the silvery-haired alternate of her old sensei. A grin broke out on her face then, all teeth, and suddenly she was looking forwards to the rest of the day – her exhaustion forgotten as she laid eyes on that familiar figure. _Though it was lacking the scars the imbecile who'd sent her into this dimension had. _Not that it supressed the urge to teach him how much of an idiot he was. _Today was going to be far more fun than she had originally thought._

She let Renka drag her over to their usual spot – where Itachi waited for them, having completed his own physical in a faster time than either of them. _Though they had been split between girls and boys. _Still, her eyes never left Obito's figure, her glee practically palpable as she waited for the pair to take them to the training grounds.

Obito shivered.

* * *

"Sakura-chan," Itachi said, glancing at her curiously over their lunch. "Has Obito-san done anything to irritate you as of late?" he enquired, tilting his head in question. "It's just you seemed rather enthusiastic with your traps and the paint bombs."

Her smile was all teeth, and she swallowed her last mouthful. "He looked in my direction," she said softly. "And his face irritates me for some reason." _Given its resemblance to the alternate version of him. _

Renka sniggered. "Sucks to be—"

"Sakura-chan?" a voice called, and Sakura blinked up at the unfamiliar chunin sensei calling her out. Confused, she climbed to her feet, waving to get the woman's attention. "Tobirama-sama wishes to see you in his office."

Her stomach dropped down to her toes.

Itachi frowned. "I wonder what he wants…" he mumbled. "He seems to call you in a lot…"

Sakura folded her arms with a huff, hiding her nerves with a thin veneer of confidence. "Probably 'cause I'm so awesome," she muttered.

"Sure you are, Eternal Rival!" Renka said, giving her a thumbs up and a twinkling grin, and in the corner of her eye, Sakura noticed Kakashi abruptly changing direction as he milled around the lunch courtyard.

"You had best be on your way," Itachi reminded. "Tobirama-sensei will not like it if you are too late."

Nodding, Sakura made her way back inside, heart thumping in her chest as she all but dragged her feet to Tobirama's Office. _It felt like she was walking to her doom. _The knock on the door almost seemed to echo, and Sakura pushed said door open before she could lose her nerve – and run and hide halfway across the village. _Or better yet in the middle of the Forest of Death._

Blinking, she frowned at the empty office, hesitantly venturing further in as she waited for the overbearing white-haired Senju to make an appearance. Her gaze flickered over the walls, finally taking in all the decorations – from the numerous scrolls to a board nailed to the wall with a list of _Problematic Students _on it, under which was pinned a picture of herself and a list next to her name. Frowning, she ventured closer to the pinboard, freezing mid-step as the door swung open and Tobirama entered – carrying a thin pale blue file which Sakura realised was an academy student's file. _Her file. _And the nurse's – the med-nin's – report from her physical would be in there.

Swallowing audibly, she stiffened at the hand which landed on her shoulder and guided her over to the nearest sofa. _A nice ocean blue coloured one. _

Red eyes were narrowed, and Sakura gulped once more. "Do you know why I've called you here today?" he asked, voice alarmingly soft – missing the bite his usual scathing comments and accusations had. Sakura shook her head, not trusting her voice. _He couldn't have found out. _"Do you remember one of the questions you were asked in your most recent physical?"

Sakura stared at him, face utterly blank, panic in her eyes. Chakra thrummed behind her eyes, and she could feel her sharingan pushing behind her eyes. _Stress was the likely cause of that. _She had noticed it that much more in the past few weeks – the urge to activate her sharingan. _She was keeping that urge down though… just about, and she was hardly about to let up on that right then and there._

"She asked you how much you slept a night," Tobirama said, glancing down at the notes in her file. "You said nine hours, but oddly enough neither me nor Makoto-san believe that in the slightest."

Sakura felt her shoulders slump in relief. _It wasn't her lungs. _

"Given the state of your eyebags"—Sakura's eye twitched—"and how tired you seem, I think it's safe to say you haven't been getting as much as a child of your age needs," Tobirama continued, and she blinked dumbly as Tobirama moved to sit down next to her. "So right here and right now, I'd like for you to close your eyes and count to thirty."

Frowning, Sakura decided to do as she was told for once without an argument. She was too tired to get into a battle of wits with the Senju. _Or was it a battle of who was the snarkiest? _Glancing up at him, she started counting out loud.

She didn't remember anything beyond the number eleven.

* * *

"Neh, Sakura!"

Blearily, Sakura opened her eyes at the whispered-shout, blinking hard as she spotted Renka hovering over her. "Huh?"

"Tobi-oji said to come and get you for the last two hours of class," she said, beaming down at her, and Sakura propped herself up her elbows – noting the fact that she had a pillow under her head and a blanket had been tucked over her up to her chin and the mask which was thankfully still covering her face. _No one had seen her face. _"You alright, Rival?" Renka asked, peering at her closely, nose brushing against her own.

Sakura scuttled back. "Don't get up in my face, moron!" she grumbled, pulling her hood back into place as she pulled herself out from under the blanket. "I'm fine."

"Good." Renka nodded then, and Sakura was by then used to the slightly older girl's tendency to drag her everywhere. _Mainly because she was a ball of violent energy, and she wasn't patient enough to wait for Sakura to make her way places at the snail's pace she favoured. _She didn't have the boundless energy everyone else her age seemed to have. _Though maybe that was because she was always using it up before the academy day started? _

Shrugging, Sakura let herself be pulled back over to class.

It seemed it was finally time for round two of _let's traumatise Obito-sensei. _A shark-like grin curled at her lips at the thought. There was plenty to do before the day was out.


End file.
